New Somme Books

[smawson44]

Hello,

I haven't seen much discussion about a few Somme books to be released in the next few months. Does anyone have an opinion of the following three books.

First Day on the Somme by Andrew Roberts

Somme: into the breach by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore

First day of the Somme by Andrew MacDonald

Does anyone have any opinions, or have they heard anything about these books.

The ones by MacDonald and Sebag-Montefiore look promising to me. I haven't encountered MacDonald's work before, but apparently he has written about NZ troops in WW1.

[charlesmessenger]

Andrew Roberts is a highly respected historian.

The History Press are republishing General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley's The Somme in June. It was originally published in 1964 when he was commanding 2 Para.

Charles M

[paulgranger]

There has been comment on Roberts and Macdonald, search under 'elegy' in books for a thread. There has been no comment on 'into The Breach' by Sebag-M so far.

[David Filsell]

A new book relating to the 'epidemic, of shell shock on Somme - Breakdown: The Crisis of Shell Shock on the Somme. The size of the problem, it's treatment and consequences.

[smawson44]

Looks interesting. I also found one on the 24 hours of the Somme by Robert Kershaw. I purchased the MacDonald book, has anyone else read it?

Anniversaries

are great in some ways, poor in others, for book production.

[paulgranger]

Be interested to know what you think of the Macdonald book, when you've read it. The blurb on the Amazon site suggests it's a return to the 'lions led by donkeys' school of thought.

[keithfazzani]

A new book relating to the 'epidemic, of shell shock on Somme - Breakdown: The Crisis of Shell Shock on the Somme. The size of the problem, it's treatment and consequences.

I have just ordered this after reading a good review in the Spectator. The reviewers only criticism was that it contained too much on the tactics etc - but that sounded good to me. It'll take ages for me to get around to reading it as it will join the pile of "to be read'.

[smawson44]

I think that one looks great, but I live in the states and it isn't even listed on amazon site yet. I am, luckily, getting the MacDonald book early through a posting on Ebay. I think the Sebag-Monefiore looks very promising.

[PhilB]

The Amazon blurb has certainly convinced me that it looks most readable!

"The complete account of Britain's worst-ever military disaster. It took several million bullets and roughly an hour to effectively destroy General Sir Douglas Haig's grand plans for the first day of the Somme, 1 July 1916. By day's end, 19,240 British soldiers were dead, crumpled khaki bundles scattered across pasture studded with the scarlet of poppies and smouldering shell holes. A further 35,493 were wounded. This single sunny day remains Britain's worst-ever military disaster. Responsible were hundreds of German machine guns and scores of artillery batteries that had waited silently to deal death to the long-anticipated attack. Reviewing the day's events fully from, for the first time, both the British and German perspectives, Andrew Macdonald explains how and why this was a disaster waiting to happen. While laying the blame for the butchery squarely on widespread British command failure, he also shows that the outcome was a triumph of German discipline, planning and tactics, with German commanders mostly outclassing their opposite numbers. Published for the hundredth anniversary of the Battle of the Somme in July 2016, this is a major contribution to World War 1 history and an epic story of courage, misery and endurance in its own right."

[paulgranger]

Yes, it does seem to be a throwback to the Laffin/Winter/Clarke school of thought, but, and call me a masochistic if you like, I have ordered it, based, not on the blurb, but on the opening pages which are available as a sample on Amazon. They suggest that it's a bit more nuanced than the blurb trumpets. I shall see

[smawson44]

From the forward it seems to claim more German accounts than most previous writings.

[The Scorer]

The History Press are republishing General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley's The Somme in June. It was originally published in 1964 when he was commanding 2 Para.

Charles M

What's this one like ... anyone know?

[paulgranger]

It is a clear and concise history of the Battle, and recommended as a good overview, but it is 50 years old, so overtaken by later writings.

[nigelcave]

F-H is not at all bad - but very much concentrated, IIRC, on the opening day(s). It still is a very good opening account to a person who is new(ish) to the battle and less demanding than some of the deeper and more recent studies.

[David Filsell]

FH was writing before the release of War Diaries of course.

[paulgranger]

The Amazon blurb has certainly convinced me that it looks most readable!

"The complete account of Britain's worst-ever military disaster. It took several million bullets and roughly an hour to effectively destroy General Sir Douglas Haig's grand plans for the first day of the Somme, 1 July 1916. By day's end, 19,240 British soldiers were dead, crumpled khaki bundles scattered across pasture studded with the scarlet of poppies and smouldering shell holes. A further 35,493 were wounded. This single sunny day remains Britain's worst-ever military disaster. Responsible were hundreds of German machine guns and scores of artillery batteries that had waited silently to deal death to the long-anticipated attack. Reviewing the day's events fully from, for the first time, both the British and German perspectives, Andrew Macdonald explains how and why this was a disaster waiting to happen. While laying the blame for the butchery squarely on widespread British command failure, he also shows that the outcome was a triumph of German discipline, planning and tactics, with German commanders mostly outclassing their opposite numbers. Published for the hundredth anniversary of the Battle of the Somme in July 2016, this is a major contribution to World War 1 history and an epic story of courage, misery and endurance in its own right."

My copy has arrived. The description above is taken from the inside front cover flap, and is certainly a 'purple' passage ( incidentally, I thought the Fall of Singapore was Britain's worst-ever military disaster) . However, the back of the book has plaudits from Jack Sheldon, Peter Simkins, Christopher Pugsley, and Mungo Melvin, and from these, it would seem probable that this is not the hyperbolic rant that the publisher describes, but a more nuanced account. I have yet to read it, I will let you know.

[keithfazzani]

Mine arrived today also, looking forward to reading it. Trouble is a lot waiting to be read, however from an initial skim I think this might jump the queue.

[smawson44]

I also received mine yesterday. I probably won't get around to read it for a little while, but I have a few initial impressions:

Looks like the Germans get a lot more attention than in other accounts (Middlebrook/Hart) there is definitely a distinct influence of Sheldon's work in it.

The citations look great, much more thorough than repetitions of different IWM sound documents(Hart).

The maps look great, they are based on the official maps, and include battalion level detail for all the major areas of the battle.

The book looks to be organized with sectors North to South then returning to Goumecourt. I liked Middlebrook's use of time to break up the ares of the battle, this accountss eems to be organized along the lines of Harts account of the first day.

All in all, it looks impressive. And besides the flowery passages on the cover like the before mentioned "worst-ever disaster" (which probably was a addition by the marketing department of the publisher rather than the author) Looks to be solid addition to the historiography of the Somme.