Julian Thompson • £40

Verdun and the Somme were two of the most cataclysmic battles of World War One on the Western Front. The carnage on that front in 1916 was unprecedented for all sides, and had a profound effect on the eventual outcome of the war. On the first day of the Somme, Britain and 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 and a half months and would witness the arrival of the tank on the battlefield. Likewise Verdun lasted ten months and the steadfastness of the French soldiers remains legendary to this day.

Relive and appreciate this shocking period in history by examining rare items of memorabilia such as maps, diary extracts, letters, sketches, secret memos and reports which had been filed away in museums and other collections around the world. Julian Thompson explains the battle in and engaging and informative way, with over 200 photographs from the Imperial War Museum, French and German museums.

More books on the Somme…

Gunner on the Somme • W R Price • £20
The Somme • A H Farrar-Hockley • £14.99
The History Press

Gunner on the Somme is a remarkable memoir detailing the life of a gentleman scientist turned gunner on the Western Front. Written from the abandoned manuscript of William Robert Price, known as Robin Price throughout his life, Gunner on the Somme was originally rejected by a publisher back in 1962 for being not being ‘phoney’ enough to attract the people who read ‘phoney’ war books at the time. Thankfully the manuscript was discovered hidden away at the Imperial War Museum, the result of which is this stunning first-hand account.

Resurrected in time for the centenary, The Somme by General Sir Anthony Heritage Farrar- Hockley is a classic referred to by the Observer as ‘a model military history’. Originally published in 1964, this is a critically acclaimed classic history of the military engagements of the Somme that raged from July to November 1916. This anniversary edition also includes a foreword by A. H. Farrar-Hockley’s son, Major General Charles Dair Farrar-Hockley, offering ‘a family perspective’.

Sisters of the Somme

Penny Starns • £9.99
The History Press

With WW1 casualties mounting, there was an appeal for volunteers to train as front-line medical staff. Many women heeded the call: some responding to a vocational or religious calling, others following a sweetheart to the front, and some carried away on the jingoistic patriotism that gripped the nation in 1914.

Based on the previously unpublished true stories of its nurses and medical staff, this book is a heart-warming account of the joys and sorrows of life in an extraordinary Somme field hospital.