24 Hours at the Somme

One hundreds years after Battle of the Somme, Robert Kershaw attempts to understand the carnage, using the voices of the British and German soldiers who lived through that awful day. In the early hours of July 1, 1916, the British General staff placed its faith in patriotism and guts, believing that one "Big Push" would bring on the end of the Great War. By sunset, there were 57,470 men—more than half the size of the present-day British Army—who lay dead, missing or wounded. On that day hope died. Juxtaposing the British trench view against that from the German parapet, Kershaw draws on eyewitness accounts, memories and letters to expose the true horror of that day. Among the mud, gore and stench of death, there are also stories of humanity and resilience, of all-embracing comradeship and gritty patriotic British spirit. However it was this very emotion which ultimately caused thousands of young men to sacrifice themselves on the Somme.

Robert Kershaw is a former Para, having joined the Parachute Regiment in 1973, commanded 10 Para and left as a full Colonel in 2006. His active service includes tours in Northern Ireland, the first Gulf War (during which he was awarded the U.S. Bronze Star) and Bosnia. His previous books include 24 Hours at Waterloo, D-Day: Piercing the Atlantic Wall, and It Never Snows in September.