THE REFERENCE BOOK FOR THE ENTIRE BATTLE OF THE SOMME

Produced with the assistance of

HRH The Prince of Wales

The British Embassy Paris

The Army Benevolent Fund

Imperial War Museum London

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

and the Royal British Legion

THE SPECIAL BOXED COLLECTOR’S LIMITED EDITION OF

THE SOMME, NINETY YEARS ON — A VISUAL HISTORY OF THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME

BY DUNCAN YOUEL AND DAVID EDGELL

SOMME HISTORICAL CONSULTANT: MICHAEL STEDMAN

Combining powerful testimonies from the men who fought on the Somme battlefields with specially-commissioned photography and dramatic archive images of the Somme, this unique First World War book builds up into a detailed narrative of the 1916 Somme campaign, “the Big Push”, from the infamous First Day through to its bitter end at the Ancre and the Butte de Warlencourt almost five months later. From Gommecourt down to Montauban, the baptism of fire that the local Pals Battalions underwent all along the 1 July front is documented through maps and images from each location.

SOMME 90, A VISUAL HISTORY OF THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME, locates the conflict as a key event of World War I, and revisits the killing fields of the Somme, exploring the aftermath of the Great War, the establishment of the Imperial War Graves Commission, the construction of the battlefield cemeteries, the thousands of pilgrims who came in the Twenties, and the building of the memorials at home.

Fold-out panoramas of these infamous Great War battlefields, taken by the British Army in 1915, are displayed, alongside sumptuous panoramas of the landscapes today. A genealogical section is also included, to guide the reader through the tracing of forebears who may have fought on the Somme.

The accompanying DVD includes archive footage from the battle, scenes from the 1 July service at Lochnagar Crater, and extensive interviews with key figures from the Somme today, who tell their stories of the Tommies on the Somme, and explain its haunting fascination ninety years on.

Written and designed by Duncan Youel and David Edgell, with photography and film by Keith Lillis, Michael Stedman, Duncan Youel and David Edgell.

A CIP catalogue record for this First World War reference book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 0-9553171-0-X / ISBN 978-0-9553171-0-1

SIGNED COPIES OF THE COLLECTOR’S EDITION OF THE SOMME NINETY YEARS ON — THE REFERENCE BOOK FOR THE ENTIRE BATTLE OF THE SOMME