The Somme
Barton, Peter200610UU
Book
Presents the story of the Somme, showing in panoramas how the Allied high command miscalculated the opening move, and the untold story of the unused saps. This book records the machine gun emplacements in the German lines, guns optimistically meant to have been taken out by an earlier creeping barrage of artillery fire. This is the unseen and untold story of the Somme, showing in newly released panoramas how the Allied high command miscalculated the opening move, and the extraordinary untold story of the unused saps. The Battle of the Somme began with men striding across hundreds of metres of no-man's land into a hail of machine gun fire. The unseen panoramas in this book record the full extent of machine gun emplacements in the German lines - guns optimistically meant to have been taken out by an earlier creeping barrage of artillery fire. Taken at huge personal risk by specialist photographers, each panorama reveals remarkable views of up to 160 degrees. Plus, told here in full for the first time, the extraordinary story of the unused saps - over 10,000 feet of tunnels all leading up to just 25m from the German front lines. A combination of excessive secrecy and overconfidence led to their never being used despite years spent in their construction. They would have changed the initial course of the battle. It also includes: unpublished testimony from all the different battalions who served on the Somme; eye-opening German panoramas from German archives; stunning mapping throughout, with equivalent aerial photographs set alongside; and special feature spreads interpreting single panoramas with leader lines and thumbnail pics.Review: "* Astonishing... made my heart sigh' Independent * 'An extraordinary set of panoramic photographs that reveal the battlefields of the Western Front as never before. 'The Times * 'The book is a magnificent effort and most impressive - one could almost say unique' Lyn Macdonald".
Main title:
The Somme / Peter Barton.
Author:
Work:
Imprint:
Constable : [distributor] TBS The Book Service Ltd : [distributor] DLS Australia Pty Ltd : [distributor] Publishers Distribution Ltd : [distributor] Booksite Afrika, 2006.
Collation:
192 p. : 200 ill., 4 gatefolds ; 21x26 cm.
Notes:
Hardback.
Biography/History:
Peter Barton authored the definitive The Battlefields of the First World War: The Unseen Panoramas of the Western Front after researching the long-hidden Imperial War Museum panorama collection for 8 years. He is secretary of the All Party Parliamentary War Graves and Battlefields Heritage Group.
ISBN:
9781845293994 (hbk)1845293991 (hbk)
Dewey class:
940.4272
Language:
English
Subject:
BRN:
315206