Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #286108 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03-29
• Binding: Paperback
• 365 pages

Synopsis
A thorough and detailed survey of the events of the first of July 1916 including not only official records and information gleaned from regimental histories but also using first hand accounts from both German and British survivors.

Customer Reviews

Lest we forget
This book is surprisingly very readable considering the subject matter. It tells a horrific story clearly, switching between personal accounts from those that were involved (on both sides) to narrative describing the events they were in. It is the only book I have read four times and I continue to dip in and out of it, always with a feeling of awe and disbelief that soldiers could go through what they went through. Respect.

Classic account of the British Army's bloodiest day.
I was delighted to find this new hardback edition of this classic book. I first read it over 20 years ago and still regard it is as one of the finest books written on military history. A great blend of the both the strategy and tactics of the battlefield and the individual human stories of the soldiers. It is the book that got me interested in the period and led me to other great titles. I had only previously owned this title in paperback but now it is reprinted in a "replica" format to the original edition, with many maps and photographs and several appendicies with useful information. It now also has a great dust jacket. Middlebrook has written some other fine works on the war at sea and in the air but this is his best. A very readable account, I would urge you to buy it.

A Classic Which Everyone Should Read
I first read this wonderful book during the early 1970s when I was just beginning my research on the Western Front of 1914-1918. What struck me about it was that it is a great Human story. It doesnt always dwell on Tactics, Statistics; Military Strategy, but concentrates on the feelings and memories of the men who were actually there on the very first day when 57,000 men of Kitchener's Army, the largest Volunteer Army ever raised fell in battle; 20,000 killed or died later of wounds. Moreover, the profound sense of terrible loss is conveyed within the very pages which makes reading an emotional experience. Readers today however, can never hope to experience the same sort of experiences shared by so many men on 1st July 1916, and although the descriptions of battle are profound, one can only imagine what it was actually like. Nevertheless, what is more important today is to remember, and to value the sacrifice made by so many. The book is well illustrated with a good index of information. Best photograph by the way is the picture of Blighty Valley Cemetery as it was just after the war, and how it looks today. Its profoundly moving.