The Somme: Heroism and Horror in
the First World War by Sir Martin
Gilbert
A Great Battle Whose Memory Has Begin To Fade
“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.
Personal Review: The Somme: Heroism and Horror in the First
World War by Sir Martin Gilbert
Gilbert's history of the Battle of the Somme will draw those who already
have an interest in World War I. If you know little, a better place to begin is
Gilbert's general history of the war, "The First World War: A General
History." As others have noted, Gilbert uses a particular technique: he
writes about the details of the four month battle, but interwoven are details
of the experiences of particular soldiers, including where they are buried. It
is rather like the style that Ken Burns uses in his television histories of the
Civil War and World War II. I like this emphasis on the particular, since the
Great War, as it was called, is fading in modern memory. Recently my
husband and I visited the grave of a great uncle killed in 1918 in the
second Battle of the Marne. The grave site at Oise-Aisne is beautifully kept
(Joyce Kilmer is buried here), but there were no tourists, as opposed to the
World War II monuments in Normandy, with which most people are
familiar. If you find yourself in northern France, make a little time for these
World War I memorials. If not, Gilbert's history of the Somme will help you
feel as if you were there.
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