Book description
1916. The Somme. With over a million casualties, it was the most
brutal battle of World War I.
It is a clash that even now, over 90 years later, remains seared
into the national consciousness, conjuring up images of muddy trenches
and young lives tragically wasted. Its first day, July 1st 1916 - on
which the British suffered 57,470 casualties, including 19,240 dead -
is the bloodiest day in the history of the British armed forces to
date. On the German side, an officer famously described it as 'the
muddy grave of the German field army'. By the end of the battle, the
British had learned many lessons in modern warfare while the Germans
had suffered irreplaceable losses, ultimately laying the foundations
for the Allies' final victory on the Western Front.
Drawing on a wealth of material from the vast Imperial War Museum
Sound Archive, Forgotten Voices of the Somme presents an
intimate, poignant, sometimes even bleakly funny insight into life on
the front line: from the day-to-day struggle of extraordinary
circumstances to the white heat of battle and the constant threat of
injury or death. Featuring contributions from soldiers of both sides
and of differing backgrounds, ranks and roles, many of them previously
unpublished, this is the definitive oral history of this unique and
terrible conflict.
Joshua Levine is an experienced oral historian and author of
Forgotten Voices of the Blitz and the Battle for Britain
and
On a Wing and a Prayer
. He has also had plays performed on the London stage and on Radio 4, as
well as scripting a television documentary about 18th century London for
BBC2.
