'The Swordbearers' is an account of four leading commanders of the First World War and the momentous battles they fought.

Generaloberst (Colonel-General) von Moltke was the man who masterminded Germany's initial attack on France in 1914, Admiral Sir John Jellicoe led the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet in the Battle of Jutland in 1916,; General Philippe Pétain was the French leader who halted the German advances at Verdun in 1916; and General Erich Ludendorff was the last great German commander of the war, who led the final German offensives in the summer of 1918.

In this book, distinguished military historian and commentator Correlli Barnett describes how these men struggled with events greater than themselves, and shows their moments of clarity and prophecy, of optimistic self-delusion, of uncertainty and despair. The period of their command together spans the war years, and gives a continuous history of the war on the Western Front.