Verdun & the Somme were two of the most cataclysmic battles of the First World War on the Western Front. The carnage on that front in 1916 was unprecedented for all sides, & had a profound effect on the eventual outcome of the war. On the first day of the Somme, Britain & her Commonwealth suffered almost 60, 000 casualties, the worst day`s loss in British military history. Many people think of the battle solely in terms of that first disastrous day. In fact it lasted for four & a half months & would witness the arrival of the tank on the battlefield. Likewise Verdun lasted ten months & the steadfastness of the French soldiers remains legendary to this day. Relive & appreciate this shocking period in history by examining rare items of memorabilia such as maps, diary extracts, letters, sketches, secret memos & reports which had been filed away in museums & other collections around the world. Julian Thompson explains the battle in & engaging & informative way, with over 200 photographs from the Imperial War Museum, French & German museums. ...

Somme battlefields of the Western Front presented on three map panels showing present-day road network overprinted with WWI-related information: front lines from different stages of the conflict, cemeteries, private memorials, preserved tranches, bunkers, demarcation stones, etc, all cross-referenced to extensive lists. The main, more detailed map shows the area between Albert & Bapaume at 1:40, 000. British & German front lines on 1st July 1916 are marked, also corps & divisional boundaries between different units of the British Army, as well as ground taken during the 1st July offensive & ground held on 17th November 1916. Extensive overprint gives, where necessary, 1914-1918 place names & colour-coded markers are cross-referenced to information lists on the other side of the map. On the reverse, a map at 1:70, 000 shows a wider area, extending west to Amiens & across the Somme, including locations of General Haig’s & British Fourth Army’s headquarters. A small inset at 1:400, 000 shows the 1918 Sector along the Avre, around Moreuil, Aubvillers & Montdidier. This side also provides separate indexes for each panel, & list of war cemeteries, winners of the Victoria Cross buried or commemorated on the Somme, bunkers, etc. The markers on the maps & their corresponding lists are colour-coded for easier reference. Also provided is a list of 15 key locations with their GPS coordinates. ...

` The million British dead have left no books behind. What they felt as they died hour by hour in the mud, or were choked horribly with gas, or relinquished their reluctant lives on stretchers, no witness tells. But here is a book that almost tells it... Mr Gristwood has had the relentless simplicity to recall things as they were; he was as nearly dead as he could be without dying, & he has smelt the stench of his own corruption. This is the story of millions of men
- of millions.`
- H. G. Wells, from the preface In The Somme & its companion The Coward, first published in 1927, the heroics of war & noble self-sacrifice are completely absent; replaced by the gritty realism of life in WWI for the ordinary soldier, & the unflinching portrayal of the horrors of war. Written under the guidance of the master storyteller H. G. Wells, they are classics of the genre. The Somme revolves around a futile attack in 1916 during the Somme campaign. Everitt, the central protagonist is wounded & moved back through a series of dressing stations to the General Hospital at Rouen. Both in & out of the line he behaves selfishly & unheroically, but despite this his circumstances & the conditions around him make his actions easy to underst&. Based on A D Gristwood`s own wartime experiences, critics have said that few other accounts of the war give such an accurate picture of trench life. The Coward concerns a man who shoots himself in the hand to escape the war, during the March 1918 retreat
- an offence punishable by death. He gets away with it, but is haunted by fear of discovery & self-loathing.


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A contemporary map of the area of the Somme battlefields in 1916 created by cartographer & artist Richard Chandler, with an overprint indicating the two front lines, various places of interest & the cemeteries from World War I. The map covers an area between Albert & Bapaume, showing present day road network for access to the numerous WWI sites. An overprint shows the British & the German front lines in 1st July 1916 from Hébuterne in the north, across Beaumont-Hamel, Thiepval, la Boiselle, Fricourt & Mametz, to Maricourt in the south. Also marked is the ground gained during the initial offensive & the front line by 18th November 1916. The map highlights locations of 16 present day museums, memorials, trench remains, etc. as well as locations of 85 cemeteries looked after the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, plus two French cemeteries & one German. ...

On the first day of the Somme enlisted railwayman Jim Stringer lies trapped in a shell hole, smoking cigarette after cigarette under the bullets & the blazing sun. He calculates his chances of survival
- even before they departed for France, a member of Jim`s unit had been found dead. During the st&-off that follows, Jim & his comrades must operate by night the vitally important trains carrying munitions to the Front, through a ghostly landscape of shattered trees where high explosive & shrapnel shells rain down. Close co-operation & trust are vital. Yet proof piles up of an enemy within, & as a ferocious military policeman pursues his investigation into the original killing, the finger of accusation begins to point towards Jim himself...
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The Battle of the Somme as described by The Times is republished in this highly illustrated volume. Photographs, maps & accounts are shown along with a comprehensive history of the battle. When war was declared in August 1914 The Times under its chief editor, Wickham Steed, embarked on an extraordinary project. As well as authoritative daily war reports in the paper itself, a separate weekly supplement would be produced, with 40 extra, illustrated pages of in-depth analysis. The result was The Times History of the War, collected into 22 massive volumes in 1921: 11, 000 pages; 6 million words; thousands of photographs, graphics, illustrations & maps. The pages detailing The Battle of the Somme have been extracted from those volumes to produce a detailed history of the bloody battle as told 100 years ago. ...

This fascinating book is a significant approach to the conflict of 1916 & a practical guide for anyone wishing to see & understand how the battle evolved. The day-by-day layout is illustrated by a fine selection of photographs, many previously unpublished & all carefully linked to show specific details of each month`s fighting. Equally important are the 50 full colour maps illustrating trench names, fortresses & strong-points, jumping-off points, objectives & gains made. For the first time it is possible to read about the progress of a specific British brigade through reserve trenches, front-lines, no-man`s-land & captured enemy positions & to trace that unit on the detailed maps. ...

The offensive on the Somme took place between July & November 1916 & is perhaps the most iconic battle of the Great War. It was there that Kitchener s famous Pals Battalions were first sent into action en masse & it was a battlefield where many of the dreams & aspirations of a nation, hopeful of victory, were agonizingly dashed. Because of its legendary status, the Somme has been the subject of many books, & many more will come out next year. However, nothing has ever been published on the Battle in which the soldiers own photographs have been used to illustrate both the campaign s extraordinary comradeship & its carnage.” ...

Sonny`s on the run. Sonny is a model prisoner. He listens to the confessions of other inmates, & absolves them of their sins. He`s been lied to his whole life. But then one prisoner`s confession changes everything. He knows something about Sonny`s disgraced father. Sonny wants revenge. He needs to break out of prison & make those responsible pay for their crimes. Whatever the cost. ...

Part epic of Texas, part classic coming-of-age story, part unflinching portrait of the bloody price of power, The Son is an utterly transporting novel that maps the legacy of violence in the American West through the lives of the Mc Culloughs, an ambitious family as resilient & dangerous as the land they claim. Love, honour, children are sacrificed in the name of ambition, as the family becomes one of the richest powers in Texas, a dynasty of unsurpassed wealth & privilege. Yet, like all empires, the Mc Culloughs must eventually face the consequences of their choices. ...