Riding Into the Twilight

Book excerpt: After a disastrous defeat in World War I, Germany¿s military was reduced to a shell from its former imperial-era might and glory. The war had driven home the impact of advances in military technologies¿machine guns, artillery, and tanks, among others. The 1918 defeat and the strictures of the Versailles Treaty actually created and strengthened the will in the new German Reichsheer to learn from unsuccessful operations and, despite all limitations, to turn itself into a professional and forward-thinking force. The treaty had reduced the German army to 100,000 soldiers, divided between infantry and cavalry. Riding into the Twilight comprehensively covers the evolution of the lance-equipped horse soldiers of the 1920s to mixed formations of armored vehicles, bicycles, and mounted troops as the Wehrmacht expanded and went to war. After six years of mounted fighting, a final review in Austria marked the end of the last, largest, and arguably most effective cavalry force in any modern army. Those battered survivors rode into the twilight that had already greeted many other countries¿ mounted soldiers. 456 pages and 575 color and black & white photographs in 8-1/2 x11 format; this volume is a must-have for both military history buffs and those interested in the history of cavalry.