The Somme: The Darkest Hour on the Western Front

Peter Hart has written the most vivid and moving account I've ever read of the Western Front in the Great War. Rich with quotations and perceptive analysis, the book makes one feels like one is there, experiencing the battle firsthand. And what a nightmare that battle was. The author shrinks from nothing, forcing one to confront the terrible reality of that battle and the war. Always humanly sympathetic and sensible, and never overwrought, the author lets the facts speak for themselves. One ends reading this book with a deep sympathy for the men on both sides who had to endure the war. An extremely moving and powerful book, one that I can't recommend enough.

I cannot praise this book enough! Hyperbole is not something that I am given to but for any book on such a well trodden subject as the Somme to be as engaging as this signals a major achievement. What I believe sets this book apart from many that I have read is the strength of genuine feeling that the author has for the men who experienced the battle. That is not necessarily the impression I get from some authors. You do get a real sense of how deeply moved he was when laying out the first hand accounts of men who underwent such appalling experiences. The book never, though, descends into sentimentality. It would be a book that I would happily recommend to anyone who'd never read anything about the Somme or to someone who had their own personal library in the spare room. As such, it stands in a clear line from Martin Middlebrook's classic, "The First Day on the Somme", and stands some what higher, in my view, than Lynn McDonald's book, "Somme", good book though that is.

600 page book om the battle of the Somme. Written in chonological order, starting with the pre-attack to the 1st awful day right through to the battle's conclusion. Started off a little slow, and wasn't sure I could sit through this read. Once I got to July 1 the book started to really flow. Throughout was quotations of the actual participants, which at first I didn't like, but really did make this book great. Also included are maps of the portion of the battle being discussed, which really help the reader keep in perspective. Very well written book that makes you feel that you are there, but glad you are not.

I have read litterally hundreds of books on WWII but this is one of the first on WW1. What a way to start. This book is really outstanding. I am about 3/4 of the way through and its still a great read and I have a hard time putting it down. The attention to detail is awesome, with the best part being the gripping natatives from the soldiers themselves. This book literally leaves the reader speachless at the horror of this battle. This book is amust-have for someone who wants to understand what WW1 was like for the average foot soldier in the trenches.

Peter Hart has produced a number of books from the IWM "First Person Stories" which make a tremendous source for the historian seeking answers to "how could this have happened?" This new work, The Somme, along with Bloody April, are Hart's new works separate from long time co-author Nigel Steel. The Somme is an outstanding, highly readable work which uses historical facts to tie together hundreds of first hand accounts of the battle. This book makes no attempt to put the unmitigated horror of the story into a larger historical framework of World War I. It tells the story of soldiers who endured the four month bloodbath of 1916 which produced little but to relieve pressure on the French at Verdun. I highly recommend this work as an interesting and informative "read" that lets the reader draw his own conclusions about the waste of the "Pals Battalions".