THE DONKEYS, by Alan Clark (216 pp.; Morrow; $4). "The English fight like lions," said German General Ludendorff.
"Yes," scoffed an underofficer, "but they are led by donkeys." So they were, as Historian Clark proves in this horrifying account of the early months of World War I. His charges, proved beyond doubt by huge and sickening casualty lists, are that the British commanders—notably Field Marshal Sir John French and General Douglas Haig—overrated the cavalry charge, underrated the machine gun, and stubbornly refused to change outmoded tactics. Clark calls French and Haig mass murderers,...