Book Review: By Mark Wheatcroft.
Title: The First Day on the Somme (1971)
Author: Martin Middlebrook.
Publisher: Pen and Sword
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
What a book, I would have given it more stars if I could. This book is often discribed as the definitive account on the First Day of the Battle of the Somme and it didn't disappoint. Middlebrook weaves his narrative from numerous sources, battalion war diaries, personal diaries, testimony of the veterans to tell the story of what happened to the British Army on that fateful day. The account also follows ten soldiers of various ranks and regiments that fought to give an insight into what happened where, the experience of different ranks and the various outcomes of the men who took part. Middlebrook also offers balanced views of the generals at a time when the 'Lions led by Donkeys' myth was at its height.
If you are a student of the Great War this book is essential reading, I only wish I had come across it sooner.
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