The Somme : the darkest hour on the Western Front
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 564-575) and index.

On July 1, 1916, the British Army launched the "Big Push" that was supposed to bring an end to the horrific stalemate on the Western Front between British, French, and German forces. What resulted was one of the greatest single human catastrophes in the history of warfare. Scrambling out of trenches in the face of German machine guns and artillery fire, the Allied Powers lost over twenty thousand soldiers that first day, but this "battle" would drag on for another four deadly months. This chronicle traces the horrific confrontation between English, French, and German forces in a narrative account drawn from letters, diaries, and first-person testimonies. As the oral historian at the Imperial War Museum in London, the author has brought to light new material in this account of World War I's iconic contest.