Somme
Battles & CampaignsThe Somme has become synonymous with great loss of life and continues to cause controversy more than a hundred years after the commencement of the First World War. Much criticism has been made of the generals and commanders, who for much of the twentieth century were depicted as incompetent. However, in this centenary year of the beginning of the Battle of the Somme, the actions of the British leaders have been revised and more of the battle has been revealed.
Pen & Sword Books have an extensive range of titles covering the battle, its build-up and aftermath. Here you will find personal accounts, contemporary analysis and detailed battlefield guides of one of the world's bloodiest battles.
For more news and articles on the Battle of the Somme, you can also visit Warfare Online Magazine’s dedicated Somme page.
Quizzes
Battle of the Somme
1 July 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. Test your knowledge with our dedicated Somme quiz.
Start the Quiz
Battle of the Somme
1 July 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. Test your knowledge with our dedicated Somme quiz.
Start the Quiz
Before Action
William Noel Hodgson never intended to be a soldier; he wanted to write. The Great War made his reputation as a poet but it also killed him. This groundbreaking biography traces his path through the pre-war world and explores why he set his own hopes and plans aside to join the army. His story is personal but it evokes the experience of a generation.… Read more...
Mud and Bodies
Neil Weir died in 1967, but it was not until 2009 that his grandson, Mike Burns, discovered his diary and letters among some packing trunks he had been left, and learnt that his grandfather had served as an officer in the 10th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders for much of the First World War. A captain and company commander at the tender… Read more...
Valour in the Trenches
Alfred Pollard joined the Honourable Artillery Company at Armoury House in the City of London in 1914 aged 21. The HAC is a unique Territorial unit composed entirely of middle class volunteers, who recruit all their officers from the ranks. Pollard was a natural soldier who believed himself (correctly as it turned out) to be invulnerable. He revelled… Read more...
Mud and Bodies
Neil Weir died in 1967, but it was not until 2009 that his grandson, Mike Burns, discovered his diary and letters among some packing trunks he had been left, and learnt that his grandfather had served as an officer in the 10th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders for much of the First World War. A captain and company commander at the tender… Read more...
Somme, 1st July 1916 DVD (northern)
This ground breaking series of military DVDs is launched here with the release of Somme, 1st July 1916 - Northern Sector. The DVD covers the events of 1st July in the areas from Gommecourt, Serre, Beaumont Hamel, Thiepval to Ovillers. It contains a visual tour of each of the key areas in the northern sector, together with maps, archive film and contemporary… Read more...
Somme, 1st July 1916 DVD (southern)
This ground breaking series of DVDs continues here with the release of Somme, 1st July 1916 - Southern Sector. The DVD covers the events of 1st July in the areas from la Boisselle, Fricourt, Mametz, Carnoy to Montauban. It contains a visual tour of each of the key areas in the southern sector, together with maps, archive film and contemporary stills.… Read more...
Twelve Days on the Somme
A joint operation between Britain and France in 1916, the Battle of the Somme was an attempt to gain territory and dent Germany's military strength. By the end of the action, very little ground had been won: the Allied Forces had made just 12 km. For this slight gain, more than a million lives were lost. There were more than 400,000 British, 200,000… Read more...
Britain's Last Tommies
On the centenary of the Great War, there are now no longer any veterans alive of the six million men who served on the Western Front. Although this means that the Great War as a living history is to all intents and purposes over, the twenty years Richard van Emden spent interviewing and carefully recording the memories of over 270 veterans, makes this… Read more...
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