77 Chapters. 100,000 words. The Battle of the Somme: A Layman's Guide is the most comprehensive Layman's Guide yet and is available globally on Amazon Kindle from 30th September. Before it goes live, I wanted to give you all a cheeky glimpse of the what the book covers. So here is the full table of contents...
Epilogue: This Was War
Introduction
1. Niederwerfungstrategies And Schwerpunkts: Imperial German Strategy
2. Sit Rep: The Western Front, 1916
3. Grasping The Nettle: Battle Planning
4. Almost Agreeing: Defining Scope And Objectives Of The Battle
5. Fresh Meat: Kitchener’s New Army
6. Almost Disastrous: Falkenhayn’s Foolishness
7. Big Guns: Artillery
8. The Great Bombardment
9. War Sport: Trench Raiding
10. Just Let Them Come! The German Front Line – June 1916
11. Reconnaissance And Dominance: The Role Of The Royal Flying Corps
12. Red Tabs And Long Days: The View From HQ
13. Clay Kickers And Canaries: The Underground War
14. BOOM! Hawthorn Ridge, Lochnagar, Y-Sap And Assorted Mines
15. ‘Good Luck For Tomorrow.’ Plans Revealed.
16. Lord, I Shall Be Very Busy This Day: Moving On Up
17. Countdown To Zero
18. Private William Frederick McFadzean VC, Royal Irish Rifles
19. Over The Top
20. The British Burden Of Battle
21. The Film Men: Documenting The Battle
22. 1st July: Gommecourt - An Expensive Diversion
23. Lt.Downman’s Damning Decree On The Disaster Of Gommecourt
24. 1st July: Premature Detonation At Serre And Beaumont Hamel
25. 1st July: 'For Goodness’ Sake, Send Reinforcements!' Attacking The Quadrilateral.
26. Drummer Walter Potter Ritchie VC, Seaforth Highlanders
27. 1st July: Beaumont Hamel
28. 1st July: 'To You Has Been Set The Most Difficult Task.' The Sunken Lane
29. 1st July: Dead Men Can Advance No Further. Y-Ravine
30. Feste Schwaben: The Schwerpunkt Of All Schwerpunkts
31. 1st July: Thiepval. Bulletproof Soldiers
32. 1st July: Moriturite Salutant. The Ulsters Attack
33. Corporal George Sanders VC MC
34. 1st July: Ovillers. So Ends The Golden Age
35. Lieutenant-Colonel E T F Sandys, DSO
36. 1st July: The Glory Hole. Ovillers La Boisselle
37. 1st July: XV Corps At Fricourt
38. 1st July: Mostly Successful At Mametz
39. 1st July: Kicking Off At Montauban
40. 1st July: French Success
41. Bravery, Bullets And Body Bags: Reflections On Britain’s Blackest Day
42. ‘Hold Our Current Positions Without Fail.’ German Reaction To The ‘Big Push’
43. Medic! Coping With The Wounded
44. The Morning After The Day Before.
45. Marginal Gains: The Capture Of Fricourt And La Boisselle
46. The Unkillable Soldier: Lieutenant-Colonel Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton De Wiart
47. Private Thomas George Turrall VC, Worcestershire Regiment
48. Another Expensive Diversion: Thiepval And Ovillers
49. Random Acts Of Warfare (Part 1): Contalmaison
50. Random Acts Of Warfare (Part 2): Mametz Wood
51. Random Acts Of Warfare (Part 3): Trônes Wood
52. 14th July: The Dawn Attack
53. The Horror Of High Wood
54. 'At All Costs!' Delville Wood
55. Giddy’s Delville Wood Diary
56. Fromelles: The Worst 24 Hours In Australia’s Entire History
57. 23rd July: An Organised Attack On A Broad Front. Or Not.
58. Pozières: ANZACS Attack
59. OHL: Trouble At The Top
60. Tension At Home: A Blighty Back And Forth
61. Grinding It Out At Guillemont
62. The Last VC: CSM George Evans
63. Sit Rep Germany: Lurching From One Crisis To Another.
64. Metal Monsters: Tanks
65. 'As Strong And As Violent As Possible'. The Battle Of Flers-Courcelette
66. A Wanton Waste Of Men. 47th Division At High Wood
67. Bite And Hold: The Battle Of Morval
68. Back At Thiepval: 26th September
69. 2nd Lieutenant Thomas Edwin Adlam VC
70. Haig’s Grand Design
71. Muddy Attrition: Le Transloy & Regina Trench
72. That Miniature Gibraltar: The Butte De Warlencourt
73. Brigadier-General Roland Bradford VC MC
74. Chantilly Race
75. The Final Fight: Astride The Ancre
76. The Greatest Battle Of All Wars
77. The Final Word: Death Is A Dreadful Thing.
I hope reading this whets the appetite to get stuck in. At launch the book will be available for the special launch price of 99p / 99c - but this price will not last for long, so make sure you jump on it before the price goes up.
Grab your copy now from Amazon sites worldwide!
I am currently working on the paperback version - that will be available in October.
留言