Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 Not as good as it could have been May 22, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a good book, and has many excellent aspects. But it does, in comparison to its companion book about the Ypres salient, seem a little lacklustre and perhaps hastily put together. The panoramas are historically important, but you do wonder what readers get from seeing them as part of an overall account. Few images actually depict anything other than the (very flat) landscape, which is, as I say, important, but perhaps not the best way to fill a book aimed at this particular audience.
Really excellent points are soldiers' accounts, and the many drawings of equipment, techniques, and so on. The maps are also very clearly presented.
All said and done, it's difficult to criticise any book about the Great War, given that we can never be reminded, educated, and shamed enough by telling its awful, terrible story.
CD-ROMs not Mac compatible May 11, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Excellent book with clear maps and fascinating photograph, but be aware that the CD-ROMS are not compatible with Mac computers.
 A Marvellous Book April 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I started to research the battles of The Somme during the latter part of the 1960s having watched the superb BBC Series The Great War. Over the years, I have read considerable material and books, many of them rather good, others perhaps not reaching the standard as one would expect of a subject of this nature.
I managed to visit the area during the spring of 1984 and was impressed by what I saw. Indeed the panoramic photos in this book, on pages 138-138, of Mash Valley brought back quite a few memories. And one of the great things about this marvellous book, are the numerous panoramic photgraphs of "Then and Now" showing the reader of what the area was once like, a devastated landscape of horrific images, smashed villages, dead bodies etc, and what the landscape looks like today.
Peter Barton tells the story of a great battle fought during the summer and autumn of 1916, a battle which did not end the war then, but it may have contributed to the eventual defeat of the German Army in 1918 because of the terrible casualties all armies sustained during that conflict within a "War To End All Wars". Supplemented by numerous descriptions left behind by many of the survivors who tell their story of their experiences, and their struggle to survive amidst the horrors of the trenches. It is their fitting tribute to the memory of the many comrades and fellow soldiers who were lost.
There are many good photographs included in this volume, many of whom I have not seen before and I have no doubt that these photos will also leave an impression on many readers. A case in point is the panoramic image of the devastated Guillemont battlefield (pages 208-209) showing the awful landscape as it was, and the now peaceful scene dominated by Guillemont Road Cemetery as it looks today.
Although the material on the Somme is vast, I should recommend this book as THE Buy of the Year.
Extremely interesting and incredibly moving November 27, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I was given this book as a gift and subsequently bought another copy for my mum as a gift. It is incredibly detailed and thoroughly expanded my knowledge of this very sad and terrible time in history. Particularly poignant were the examples of letters and other writings by people actually involved in the battle, including some that never made it home. It bought the history to life and made it human. I would thoroughly recommend this book.
The Greatest August 31, 2007
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
Quite possibly the best book on the battle of the Somme ever written.
Buy it!
|
