Some of the best, most interesting, and truly valuable works on the First World War are those that are able to skillfully and insightfully address complicated questions. Sometimes it is not enough just to explain and examine why something happened but also how. In doing so, such works increase the depth and illuminate the complexity of warfare. Over recent years, including the centenary period, the field of First World War studies has been blessed with many such works. Christopher Phillips's Civilian Specialists at War: Britain's Transport Experts and the First World War, adapted from his PhD dissertation, is one such example.
Phillips's focus is the multitude of different ways that transport and logistics had an impact on, exacerbated, and eventually supported the British and Allied war effort during the conflict. Quoting the Times in 1917, Phillips sets out the key consideration at the heart of the study: “Modern war is modern industry, organized for a single definite purpose” (1). That the First World War required unprecedented technological outputs is not a new insight, but Phillips takes this as a starting point to explore how transport and logistics rose to the challenge for Britain and its allies, a topic that Phillips shows has been oft overlooked (96).
The sheer tonnage and transport capacity required for the war is truly mind-boggling, with a useful example being the increase in shell delivery from 1 June 1915 to July 1916 that highlights the revolution taking place within British infrastructure (119). While Sir Eric Geddes is a recognizable figure at the center of this revolution, Phillips notes that he is indicative of a wider movement to apply civilian expertise to this wider issue.
In chapters 6 and 7 in particular, Phillips explores the process of reorganizing and repurposing British logistical and transportation output under the guidance of civilian experts in ways that the army itself was not capable of doing. This aspect, in particular, is fascinating but also means that Phillips's work can be placed very handily alongside work such as Aimée Fox's Learning to Fight: Military Innovation and Change in the British Army, 1914–1918 (2017) in examining the process of knowledge development, exchange, and deployment in wartime.
Indeed, this is one of the strengths of Phillips's work: it has wide relevance and utility for historians across the field. Phillips does not just dwell on the mammoth task of supplying the British army in France but branches out to discuss places such as Salonika, in Greece (286–88), which also required huge quantities of men and materiel in a manner that will be of great interest to historians of those theaters. By taking a wider view of the war effort, Phillips skillfully knits the different requirements together to illustrate the sheer scale of the logistical undertaking.
Furthermore, of interest to scholars of interallied relations, like me, Phillips examines the practical realities of attempting to coordinate mass transportation and supply between the British and French allies. The “inauspicious beginning” (98) to this arrangement in 1914 is said to set the pattern of things to come. In chapters 8 and 9, Phillips delves into this particular aspect of the war and provides a level of depth and new detail regarding the practicalities of fighting a coalition war that will be useful for years to come.
This book, then, is perhaps Phillips's greatest contribution to the field. It works perfectly well as an insightful and interesting standalone piece, but it also provides both useful context to other existing studies and illuminates untapped potential for those yet to come. Phillips's examination of this issue provides both information and inspiration for future examinations of the First World War, the requirements of fighting a global conflict, the links between home front and the front lines, and the minutiae of interallied relations.
Regarding readership, the book will find an obvious audience among academics of the First World War, particularly those focusing on the British experience. But Phillips's writing is certainly accessible enough to make the book an option for undergraduate reading lists and for graduate courses that deal with industrial aspects of the conflict.
What should also be noted is that the New Perspectives series, within which this book resides, is an Open Access program, which means that while the physical books require purchase, an electronic copy is free. Not only does that make the book accessible to a wide readership, but it also stands as a testament to the high quality of research and production undertaken, which might also be of interest to emerging early career researchers.
In short, Phillips has created an admirable piece of work—widely researched, insightfully conceived, and presented with a great degree of literary skill. Within its pages researchers will find a great deal of useful material through which to further widen their understanding of the work and the avenues for their own potential research. And that is always the mark of a fine academic study.
