This excellent pocket-sized publication is an ideal companion if you are thinking of going to France to do some battlefield exploring. This is the first of two volumes dealing with the opening campaign of WWI in 1914 and it lists places to visit and sights to see.

The Armourer

The book is full of route maps to follow, maps, illustrations and pointers as to what happened along the way. It is very easy to use, and is suited to the driver or the cyclist/walker. It is full of lively photographs and the iconic spots are easily recognizable.

Highly recommended.

Barton-on-Humber at War

This book is the first of two books in the Battle Lines series, describing itself as “the Western Front by Car, by Bike, and on Foot”. It is a very practical guide that opens the battle lines to visitors of all ages and wealth. It is a highly illustrated guide, with crisp text, covering the fast moving campaign at the opening of hostilities.

The book provides an excellent guide and introduction. Highly commended.

Firetrench

The guide slips seamlessly from practical advice around accommodation and eateries to directing the reader to relevant sites of interest. The routes start with basic information about distance, co-ordinates, and relevant supplementary maps, before setting out the events and significance of the locations on the route. Personal accounts and war diary extracts are used to great effect to illustrate the experience of the soldiers involved.

WWI Geek

Jon Cooksey is the editor of Stand To! and Jerry Murland has written several books about the British Army in 1914 and this volume is part of a series the author's have been working on covering largely lesser known battlefields of the Great War. Starting with a brief background to the British Army in 1914, some historical context and visitors information, the bulk of the book covers four main tours looking at different aspects of the Mons battlefields. This takes in the Mons area itself but also the early stage of the retreat from Mons down to the battlefield at Le Cateau.

The text is clear and the book goes into some detail with lots of human interest stories. There are good, clear maps and is well supported by contemporary images as well as colour modern ones. Mons has lacked a good battlefield guide for some time and this certainly fills the gap taking the visitor to some well known sites and also some lesser known ones. A fantastic Mons battlefield guide and essential reading for anyone going to Mons for the centenary this August.

Paul Reed