Book excerpt: Terence Loveridge offers a unique look at the land and air operations around the strategic village of Monchy-le-Preux at the center of the western front during World War I. The story of the Great War is usually one of condemnation or rehabilitation of strategists and consecration of the common soldier, while the story of those who planned, directed, and led operations on the ground has generally been overlooked. Loveridge uses experiences of junior leaders fighting around the key terrain of Monchy-le-Preux to challenge the currently accepted views and reveal that the Great War, despite subsequent impression, was a surprisingly dynamic effort conducted in an arena of constantly evolving practices, techniques, and technology. Less well known than its contemporary campaigns at the Somme, Verdun, or Passchendaele, Monchy also carries less preconceived baggage and thus offers a prime opportunity to reevaluate the accepted wisdom of the events, personalities, and understandings of the Great War. The Road Past Monchy offers readers a unique chance to uncover the "lost" perspective of junior war leaders in a theater of war that saw almost continuous operations from 1914 through to 1918.