The Somme: Heroism and Horror in the First World War

"Gilbert has unearthed fascinating details of the campaign . . . An unforgettable read."—The Philadelphia Inquirer

At 7:30 a.m. on July 1, 1916, the first Allied soldiers climbed out of their trenches along the Somme River in France and charged into no-man's-land, toward the barbed wire and machine guns at the German front lines. In the months that followed, the fifteen-mile-long territory erupted into the epicenter of the Great War, marking a pivotal moment in both the war and military hist...