Synopses & Reviews
On July 1, 1916, the British Army launched the "Big Push" that was supposed to bring an end to the horrific stalemate on the Western Front between British, French and German forces. What resulted was one of the greatest single human catastrophes in twentieth century warfare: scrambling out of trenches in the face of German machine guns and artillery fire, the British lost over twenty thousand soldiers during the first day. This "battle" would drag on for another four bloody months.Expertly weaving together letters, diaries, and other first-person accounts, Peter Hart gives us a compelling narrative tribute to this infamous tragedy that epitomized the futility of "the war to end all wars."
Review
"Peter Hart pays handsome tribute to the ordinary soldiers who gave their lives in battle. One could not wish for a more appropriate testimony to that generation. ()"
Review
"Starred Review. This book, published in Britain in 2005, is a masterful synthesis of the human and the operational aspects of a campaign that increasingly defines the British experience in the Great War. ()"
Review
"Peter Hart's is a memorial. The book brings to life the men who fought at the Somme in an accurate and precisely detailed history of one of the most gut-wrenchingly obscene desecrations of humanity our species ever perpetrated upon itself.... As director and oral historian of the British Imperial War Museum in London, Hart is uniquely positioned to do justice to the British participants in the battle. A talented historian, he succeeds in that most important element of history, storytelling. (, Robert Bateman)"
Review
"The most comprehensive and insightful account of the vast tragedy of the Somme that I have read. ()"
Review
"Hart brings the human experience of the combatants well to the fore. A monumental feat of research, his book is also a memorial of the most compelling kind to the hundreds of individuals whose recollections are presented so vividly here. ( [Edinburgh])"
Review
"Hart is an accomplished author and in he is on top form. His narrative descriptions of the brutal realities of battle are outstanding. ()"
Synopsis
The definitive account of one of the bloodiest battles in world history--a military tragedy that would come to define a generation.
About the Author
Peter Hart studied at Liverpool University before becoming a director at the Imperial War Museum in London. As the museum's Oral Historian, he works frequently with war veterans recording their wartime experiences.