The author knows his stuff and he loves his subject. Jackson's book is at its most engaging and dramatic when it draws on the diaries, memoirs and letters from men in both the Pals and the Howitzers, to describe the realities of the major campaigns on the Western Front

Western Front Association, B. Benefer

The text is supported by a good selection of contemporary photos, useful maps and well-used quotes from eyewitnesses. The result is a useful and readable account of the fate of these two volunteer units and the sacrifices of their men.

History of War

Jackson truly brings home the brutal realities of combat from an evocative, firsthand perspective in this intriguing book published to mark the war's centenary.

Toy Soldier & Model Figure Magazine

A first class history. 10/10.

Great War Magazine

I doubt I am alone in associating the Pals battalions mainly with the 1st July 1916 and the effect of that day on the local communities that they came from. Yet their role in the war was of course much greater than this. Accrington not only raised a whole infantry battalion, but also rose to the challenge of forming an Artillery Brigade as well. In this new history Andrew Jackson looks to set the record straight with a comprehensive account of the war records of both units.

Building on the success of his website and drawing on over 30 years of research, Jackson provides an in-depth account of both units, utilising war diaries, local newspapers and a host of other sources.

From the conception and formation of the units, to their training and deployment, the sources (including many letters home and accounts written by the men) are used to great effect to paint a rich and detailed picture of the Accrington units and the men who were part of them.

www.ww1geek.wordpress.com

I though this was likely to be a good book when I saw the name of the author. Andrew Jackson has, for many years, operated a website about the Accrington Pals, the 11th (Service) Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment. It is a model of clarity and good research, and unlike many of the other works on this unit covers all of the “pals” story and not just the dreadful day of 1 July 1916. For any aspiring researcher of a unit, a battle or a war memorial, you would profit from looking at Jackson’s work as a standard to be achieved. The book is well written and engaging, taking us from pre-war days and providing non-Lancastrians with a good idea of the area and life there in 1914, through the days of enlistment and training and out into the theatre of war. In a sense, the climax comes early as the Accrington Pals went into action at Serre on the first day of the Somme, and suffered terribly heavy losses. Things were never quite the same again for the battalion but Jackson reveals that the local nature of the battalion remained for much of the war. The experience of the artillery brigade, a howitzer unit, was inevitably different but it too had its tragedies and triumphs and all are covered here. Excellent.

The Long Long Trail