
- 115 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
In 1916 the Great War seemed caught in a stalemate. The British were determined to break it with a huge summer push. By the time the campaign wound down in November, it proved to be the most destructive ever encounter for the Army, seeing thousands of casualties for every day of the conflict. It wasn't meant to have been like this: the British had a massive artillery superiority, and were primed to crush their enemy. In the end, despite fierce fighting, the Germans lost far fewer men.
The Somme has come to be an emblem for the horrors of war, for the pounding of shells and the hunkering down in rain-sodden trenches. What happened? How did it go so wrong for the British? Here in sharp detail, the bestselling writer John Harris tells the story of one the key battles of world history, describing in gripping terms how a series of events soon spiralled wildly, and hopelessly, out of control.
This is an unforgettable history of assault and bitter defence that takes the reader into the ferocious heart of a conflict whose scars remain today.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- The Somme
- Author’s note
- One: The big show
- Two: Breaking strains
- Three: “Your country needs you”
- Four: The plan
- Five: Verdun
- Six: All British
- Seven: Into battle
- Eight: Final preparations
- Nine: The Germans
- Ten: Moving up
- Eleven: Before zero
- Twelve: July 1st
- Thirteen: “Press on!”
- Fourteen: The end of idealism
- Fifteen: The tanks
- Sixteen: Empty victory
- Other books on the Somme
- About the Author
- Also by John Harris
- Copyright