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Title: The Somme

Subtitle: The Darkest Hour on the Western Front

Author: Peter Hart

Narrator: Mark Ashby

Format: Unabridged

Length: 20 hrs and 13 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-05-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 144 votes

Genres: History, World

Publisher's Summary:

The Somme: these words conjure the image of war rigidly fought by traditional means even when catastrophe clearly loomed. Relying on personal testimonies never before published, this study of those who survived the first day of battle (July 1, 1916) captures this epic conflagration from all angles. Follow the action as soldiers crawl across No Mans Land in the face of German guns, struggle with the conditions in the trenches, and survey the scene from the air as the RFC tries to control the skies above the battlefield.

Editorial Reviews:

With never-before-revealed firsthand accounts of World War I survivors, this is a comprehensive look at the Battle of Somme, one of the largest of the war, which took place on July 1, 1916. Listeners will be stunned by immediacy of Peter Hart's writing - it vividly evokes the battlefields, the trenches, and the fear of the soldiers fighting in the war. Especially striking are, of course, the personal testimonies of survivors. Mark Ashby's clear-as-a-bell narration adds a bit of calm to thisgripping audiobook experience.

Members Reviews:

Harrowing Story Badly Produced

This is a comprehensive story of the British offensive on the Somme. It is rich in historical detail. A great part of this detail consists of excerpts from diaries and reports of the actual participants, from generals to privates.

It helped me expand my knowledge of this important part of WW1 and gave me some insight into some of the appalling decisions made by the British general command as well as the motivations and courage of those tasked with carrying those decisions.

The author provides sources for his many excerpts of original material. Unfortunately he chose to provide these attributions in the body of the text instead of in a footnote. This lead the producer of this book to include these attributions in the reading of the text. This interrupts the narrative flow with frequent and repetitive citations. These attributions are fine in a printed work, but the producer should have omitted them in the audio recording.

A fateful day

Peter Hart is the oral historian of Britains Imperial War Museum. Hart has written a well research book and has dissected the battle in detail. Hart mixes facts and figures with direct quotations from participants to help establish the face of battle. This narrative/analytical backdrop contextualizing the personal experiences makes for dramatic reading of the battle. Because of his job at the War Museum Hart has unrivaled access to relevant source material. The author vividly presents the run up to the big push expected to end the war, instead resulted in the disaster of the first day July 1, 1916. The British suffered nearly 60,000 casualties, the greatest one day lost in the history of the British Army. Hart does make a point that General Douglas Haig (British Army) wanted to start the 1916 campaign in Belgium but French General Joffre the overall commander insisted on the Somme. The battle lasted for four deadly months.

The British had only a small army as it always relied upon its navy to fight its wars. Prior wars in Europe the British primarily control the ocean and relied on its allies to fight on land. In World War One the British had to quickly build an army so it depended heavily on its colonies to man the army. The 1st Newfoundland Regiment of the Canadian Army was virtually wiped out at Beaumont Hamel on the first day of the battle July 1, 1916.