The Somme

Herosim and Horror in the First World War

Martin Gilbert

Holt Paperbacks

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“Gilbert has unearthed fascinating details of the campaign . . . An unforgettable read.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer
 
At 7:30 a.m. on July 1, 1916, the first Allied soldiers climbed out of their trenches along the Somme River in France and charged into no-man’s-land, toward the barbed wire and machine guns at the German front lines. In the months that followed, the fifteen-mile-long territory erupted into the epicenter of the Great War, marking a pivotal moment in both the war and military history as tanks first appeared on the battlefield and air war emerged as a devastating and decisive factor in battle. All told, there were more than one million casualties, with 310,000 men dead in just 138 days.

In this vivid account of one of history’s most destructive battles, distinguished historian Martin Gilbert tracks the experiences of foot soldiers, generals, and everyone in between. With new photographs, journal entries, original maps, and military planning documents, The Somme is the most authoritative and affecting account of this bloody turning point in the Great War.

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Prelude
 
‘Chewing barbed wire’
 
In August 1914 the empires of Europe embarked on a war that each of them believed would be swift and victorious.
 
Austria–Hungary was confident it could crush Serbia within a few weeks, avenging the assassination that summer of Archduke Franz-Ferdinand of Austria, killed in Sarajevo by a Serb nationalist.
 
Germany, with territorial desires on the industrial region of north-west France, was confident it could reach Paris within a few months and dictate peace terms, as it had done in 1871 – and was to do again

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Martin Gilbert

Sir Martin Gilbert was knighted in 1995 “for services to British history and international relations.” Among his many books are The First World War, The Second World War, The Day the War Ended, and Churchill: A Life. He lives in London, England.

Martin Gilbert

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The Somme
Herosim and Horror in the First World War
Martin Gilbert

Trade Paperback

Trade Paperback
Henry Holt and Co.
Holt Paperbacks
May 2007
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9780805083019
ISBN10: 0805083014
5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches, 368 pages, Includes sixteen pages of black-and-white photographs and sixteen pages of maps
$18.00
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Hardcover

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Hardcover
Henry Holt and Co.
June 2006
Hardcover
ISBN: 9780805081275
ISBN10: 0805081275
6 1/8 x 9 1/4 inches, 352 pages, 1 16-pg b&w illus insert, 16 pgs of maps
$27.50

e-Book Agency

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e-Book Agency
Henry Holt and Co.
May 2007
e-Book Agency
ISBN: 9781429966887
ISBN10: 1429966882
6 1/8 x 9 1/4 inches, 352 pages, Includes sixteen pages of black-and-white illustrations and sixteen pages of maps
$9.99
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