Product Description

A handsomely illustrated photographic account, by the bestselling author of 'Tommy' (2003), of the human experience of war as directly witnessed by British soldiers in the First World War. Richard Holmes, one of Britain's best-known military historians (and President of the British Commission of Military History), has selected over 200 photographs taken for the most part by officers and men rather than by official photographers -- mostly unfamiliar ones located in archive collections, regimental museums and private sources. There will also be specially taken photographs by Mike Sheil, one of the best battlefield photographers working today. The book will deal with the whole of the British Army's experience of the First World War -- Gallipoli, Mesopotamia, and so on -- and not just on the Western Front. The photographs will be grouped thematically as extended picture essays; topics include the pre-war army and mobilisation of 1914; the contribution made by nurses; medical treatment and the wounded; infantrymen and their weapons; the campaign in Mesopotamia, etc! Like 'Tommy', the book is about people rather than things, about the human experience of war rather than its strategy or tactics, and at least as much about the everyday or commonplace -- a latrine here or a plate of bully beef there -- as about the lofty or portentous. It shows us the dirt beneath the fingernails of history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35625 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Review
Praise for 'Tommy': 'Holmes is one of our foremost military scholars and a skilled writer who knows his audience well. This is excellent popular history: scholarly, highly readable and utterly absorbing.' Daily Telegraph 'Monumental!Every page of this is worth reading.' Time Out

From the Inside Flap
Following the great success of his book Tommy: The British Soldier on the Western Front (2001), the leading military historian Richard Holmes has selected over 150 rare and unusual photographs to illustrate the wide range of the British Army's experience in the First World War - on all fronts, from Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Gallipoli to the Flanders trenches.

These images, culled from a wide variety of archive collections, museums and private sources, illuminate in evocative, dramatic and richly informative ways the Tommy's wartime life.

The book's topics include the preparations for war and the mobilisation of 1914, the `roses of no-man's land' - the contribution made by nurses; `blighty ones and other ones' - the wounded and their treatment; `brother lead and sister steel' - soldiers and their weapons; scenes from the battlefield and the campaigns where Tommies fought; the armistice and its aftermath.

About the Author
Richard Holmes is a celebrated military historian and television presenter, famous for his BBC series 'War Walks' and 'Wellington'. His bestselling and widely acclaimed books include 'Redcoat', 'Tommy', 'Sahib' and 'Dusty Warriors'. He taught military history at Sandhurst for many years and is now Professor at Cranfield University and The Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. His latest book (Harper Press, May 2008) is 'Marlborough: England's Fragile Genius'.

Customer Reviews

Latest and best of his WW1 series
Richard Holmes is well known as a military historian who can not only make the details of military campaigns intelligible, but can recognise the human stories beneath. There is little in terms of campaign detail. There is not that much that is especially original, either. But these are trivial matters compared with the book's place as in my opinion one of the best annotated photo albums about WW1. Enormous knowledge is worn lightly; the choice of photos is without exception excellent, with most them having appeared rarely if at all before. The greatest strength is that Holmes teaches us (without seeming to do so) how to read photos of WW1 and probably all conflicts, drawing us into the detail of the picture with warmth and humanity. Highly recommended even at full price.

Shots from the Front: The British Soldier 1914-18
A typically excellent volume from Richard Holmes as one would expect. With his encyclopaedic knowledge of the First World War his detailed interpretation of the images extracts a wealth of detail and exposes the hidden facets bringing out the real meaning behind the photograph.

This should be compulsory reading at secondary school
I found this book very interesting (superb value, possibly underpriced!) and the photos and commentary text are very readable; my interest was maintained throughout. The shots used are unusual, and many are of the less dramatic side to war- the sitting about, rations, casualty evacuation and the logistical side. There are also some less pleasant subject matters shown.

Richard Holmes also makes those very engaging battlefield documentaries and he's got a way with words too. This should be compulsory reading at secondary school, everyone should be aware of some the potential realities of war, and WW1 in particular.