What do you think?
Rate this book
24 Hours at the Somme: 1 July 1916
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.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published May 5, 2016
About the author
Robert Kershaw
25 books71 followersBorn in 1950 and a graduate of Reading University, Robert Kershaw joined the Parachute Regiment in 1973.
He served numerous regimental appointments until selected to command the 10th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (10 PARA). He attended the German Staff College (Fuhrungsakademie) spending a further two years with the Bundeswehr as an infantry, airborne and arctic warfare instructor. He speaks fluent German and has extensive experience with NATO, multinational operations and all aspects of operations and training.
His active service includes several tours in Northern Ireland, the First Gulf War and Bosnia. He has exercised in many parts of the world and served in the Middle East and Africa. His final army appointment was with the Intelligence Division at HQ NATO in Brussels Belgium.
On leaving the Army in 2006 he became a full-time author of military history as well as a consultant military analyst. He has written a paper on the military impact of HIV AIDS for Cranfield University and more recently was the historical editor for ParaData, an on-line archive for the Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces.
He served numerous regimental appointments until selected to command the 10th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (10 PARA). He attended the German Staff College (Fuhrungsakademie) spending a further two years with the Bundeswehr as an infantry, airborne and arctic warfare instructor. He speaks fluent German and has extensive experience with NATO, multinational operations and all aspects of operations and training.
His active service includes several tours in Northern Ireland, the First Gulf War and Bosnia. He has exercised in many parts of the world and served in the Middle East and Africa. His final army appointment was with the Intelligence Division at HQ NATO in Brussels Belgium.
On leaving the Army in 2006 he became a full-time author of military history as well as a consultant military analyst. He has written a paper on the military impact of HIV AIDS for Cranfield University and more recently was the historical editor for ParaData, an on-line archive for the Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
October 5, 2024
It’s a familiar story, but Robert Kershaw brings it to life with the sheer number of eye witness accounts, and in particular by including the German perspective from both the trenches and the general’s chateaus. It may be familiar, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be told again and again.
November 3, 2017
Move over, Martin Middlebrook! To his decumvirate of main characters, we now have a cast of dozens presented prior to the feature presentation. To his anglocentric view, we now find ourselves in the German dugouts as they are subjected to the nerve-grating terror of the Somme's week-long opening bombardment. The French, unfortunately, remain out of sight on their riverbanks. But Kershaw brings us as close to the horror of the first day on the Somme as a historian can.
When the storm of steel finally lifted, the Ländser were both relieved to be in possession of their senses and fired up to give the approaching lines of confident Engländer a warm welcome. The Commonwealth monuments that now dot the green hills of Picardy show us where the most memorable subsequent fighting took place. The tower of the 36st Ulster Division: at great cost it shoved its head into the German line while the shoulders couldn't follow. The Caribou at Beaumont-Hamel, where the Newfoundland regiment was annihilated. The imposing Thiepval Memorial, perched on top of that most impregnable hill. In between them, the 26th Bavarian Division held, lost and recaptured the Schwaben Redoubt. Both infantry and artillery went to two or three ammunition resupplies, while the heaped casings around some overrun machine-guns totalled up to 20.000 rounds.
In front of them, white flares went up along most of the line as the attack came to a standstill and no-man's land was covered with dead and wounded. Craters were filled to the brim with both of them. Some crawled back, others were too immobilised. All suffered from thirst and the scent of heated blood under the July sun. One man who got caught in barbed wire remembers it retrospectively as worse than the smell of gas.
Most of his kind did not survive; like pinned butterflies, nocturnal German patrols finished them off with a rifle butt to the skull. This contrasts with an officer who was buried alive for hours after the Lochnagar mine went up. magnanimously, he had his men pull in dozens of British wounded for medical treatment. Where the first wave was cut down and its scant walking survivors retreated, some riflemen would stand on the parapet to take better aim but more than one machine-gunner, suddenly confronted with the feebly moving tapestry in front, would shout "Let'em go! They've had enough!".
The British called it German cruelty; the Germans speak of wounded taking potshots at them. Certainly they did not have a monopoly on bloodlust; the close-quarter frenzy of trench fighting with bayonet and grenade saw to that. An elderly reservist or a crying 17 year old might be spared by one man who'd just lost his batallion of Pals and shot by the next, who'd served on Gallipoli and lost a brother. Bangalores stuffed with white phosphorus, designed to melt through barbed wire, proved equally useful to roast the occupants of a dug-out alive, if a smoke grenade did not send them flying up the stairs and into the sight of coldly relaxed Tommies on a human pheasant hunt.
There is little room for Rawlingson and Haig in their HQ, where the ubiquitous breakdown in communications disclosed only slowly the degree of failure on the "worst day in the history of the British Army". The tactical significance of the Somme, where a breakthrough with limited means gave way to a war of attrition based upon firepower rather than manpower, was lost to the communities from whence the men on the ground came. They were now inundated with "fallen on the field of honour" telegrams by the street. This book belongs to those twenty thousand.
When the storm of steel finally lifted, the Ländser were both relieved to be in possession of their senses and fired up to give the approaching lines of confident Engländer a warm welcome. The Commonwealth monuments that now dot the green hills of Picardy show us where the most memorable subsequent fighting took place. The tower of the 36st Ulster Division: at great cost it shoved its head into the German line while the shoulders couldn't follow. The Caribou at Beaumont-Hamel, where the Newfoundland regiment was annihilated. The imposing Thiepval Memorial, perched on top of that most impregnable hill. In between them, the 26th Bavarian Division held, lost and recaptured the Schwaben Redoubt. Both infantry and artillery went to two or three ammunition resupplies, while the heaped casings around some overrun machine-guns totalled up to 20.000 rounds.
In front of them, white flares went up along most of the line as the attack came to a standstill and no-man's land was covered with dead and wounded. Craters were filled to the brim with both of them. Some crawled back, others were too immobilised. All suffered from thirst and the scent of heated blood under the July sun. One man who got caught in barbed wire remembers it retrospectively as worse than the smell of gas.
Most of his kind did not survive; like pinned butterflies, nocturnal German patrols finished them off with a rifle butt to the skull. This contrasts with an officer who was buried alive for hours after the Lochnagar mine went up. magnanimously, he had his men pull in dozens of British wounded for medical treatment. Where the first wave was cut down and its scant walking survivors retreated, some riflemen would stand on the parapet to take better aim but more than one machine-gunner, suddenly confronted with the feebly moving tapestry in front, would shout "Let'em go! They've had enough!".
The British called it German cruelty; the Germans speak of wounded taking potshots at them. Certainly they did not have a monopoly on bloodlust; the close-quarter frenzy of trench fighting with bayonet and grenade saw to that. An elderly reservist or a crying 17 year old might be spared by one man who'd just lost his batallion of Pals and shot by the next, who'd served on Gallipoli and lost a brother. Bangalores stuffed with white phosphorus, designed to melt through barbed wire, proved equally useful to roast the occupants of a dug-out alive, if a smoke grenade did not send them flying up the stairs and into the sight of coldly relaxed Tommies on a human pheasant hunt.
There is little room for Rawlingson and Haig in their HQ, where the ubiquitous breakdown in communications disclosed only slowly the degree of failure on the "worst day in the history of the British Army". The tactical significance of the Somme, where a breakthrough with limited means gave way to a war of attrition based upon firepower rather than manpower, was lost to the communities from whence the men on the ground came. They were now inundated with "fallen on the field of honour" telegrams by the street. This book belongs to those twenty thousand.
August 7, 2016
One of a number of books released to coincide with the centenary of the opening of the battle, this book benefits from the author's military service. The book deals with the battle in chunks of several hours, with the h-hour sequence being dealt with from north to south of the battlefield.
While not as narratively complete as Martin Middlebrook's "First Day on the Somme" this does benefit from (very well informed) insight and does feature the work of miners, film makers and the General Staff. Also very welcome is the inclusion of German voices in the story, and the German Staff's reaction to the attack.
I would recommend this to anyone interested in the story of 1st July 1916. A fitting tribute to all those involved on that terrible day.
While not as narratively complete as Martin Middlebrook's "First Day on the Somme" this does benefit from (very well informed) insight and does feature the work of miners, film makers and the General Staff. Also very welcome is the inclusion of German voices in the story, and the German Staff's reaction to the attack.
I would recommend this to anyone interested in the story of 1st July 1916. A fitting tribute to all those involved on that terrible day.
August 19, 2017
I bought this while visiting parts of the Somme battlefield in July. Clearly written, gripping account from both the British offensive and the German defensive. Hour by hour, beginning at midnight and detailing what now seems to be inevitably poor preparation by British staff--they sent enormously detailed plans, dozens of pages long, but there was no allowance made for things going wrong, or for front-line officers to make changes in the moment. Beginning at 7:30 am, the 400,000 strong British 4th Army began sending men over the top. By the end of the day, they had taken nearly 60,000 casualties. Some regiments had as much as a 90% casualty rate. By the end of the defensive in mid-November, three million men had fought and 1 million were dead or wounded, making it one of the bloodiest battles in history. This book tells enough personal stories, and tells them so well, that my heart hurt for those who died--even though I went into this knowing full well that anyone who fought in 1916 is surely dead by now :)
September 17, 2020
An absolutely poignant and moving account of the first 24 hours on the Somme. Very eye opening for me. In the first hour the British had lost 30,000 wounded and dead of 66,000 men. By the end of just the first 24 hours across the 16 mile L shaped front 2 British men had fallen per yard. One in 3 was at peace. What more can you do but weep?
December 29, 2021
The best historical account into the Battle of the Somme, in my opinion. What is really unique is the chapters alternating between the British and German perspectives - providing a holistic and unbiased account. Intertwining maps, diary accounts and knowledge, it is very engaging and so poignant. A special tribute to all those involved and affected.
March 24, 2025
The first day of the Somme is, or at least should be, seared onto the psyche of everyone in the UK. This is an iconic day in the history of the country and especially, of the British Army who lost tens of thousands of soldiers, many within the first 10 minutes of the battle.
It is an event that bears retelling many times, as harrowing as it was. This book is gripping and tells the story of that day in considerable and shocking detail. The mis en scene is well known: the “Big Push” that pitched the Pals regiments into war for the first time, the 7 day bombardment that essentially failed to clear the German lines or even cut the wire in many places, the 730 am over the top charges into the teeth of withering enfilade machine gun fire and German artillery, the staggering losses.
It’s all told here as a history and through the stories of survivors And it’s done very well. Awful, gut wrenching. The lions led by donkeys legend is slightly debunked here although I’d like to have seen that examined a little more but this was a story of everyday soldiers and how fighting alongside your mates made for good morale until the whole village or community was wiped out in 15 minutes. Awful, awful
It is an event that bears retelling many times, as harrowing as it was. This book is gripping and tells the story of that day in considerable and shocking detail. The mis en scene is well known: the “Big Push” that pitched the Pals regiments into war for the first time, the 7 day bombardment that essentially failed to clear the German lines or even cut the wire in many places, the 730 am over the top charges into the teeth of withering enfilade machine gun fire and German artillery, the staggering losses.
It’s all told here as a history and through the stories of survivors And it’s done very well. Awful, gut wrenching. The lions led by donkeys legend is slightly debunked here although I’d like to have seen that examined a little more but this was a story of everyday soldiers and how fighting alongside your mates made for good morale until the whole village or community was wiped out in 15 minutes. Awful, awful
February 25, 2018
This is a very informative and interesting book with some fascinating insights into the Somme with some great stories of individual heroism and tragedy. It has some genuinely scary, upsetting and fascinating statistics plus eye-opening first-hand accounts from both the British and German perspectives.
Unfortunately I feel it is let down slightly by an inconsistent writing style that at times is gripping and emotional which is great but at other times, is messy and dull.
The other issue for me is a personal gripe that other readers may not be bothered by. The book has a few maps which are interesting in themselves but when it comes to the descriptions of battles and tactics I believe much more detailed maps and diagrams of trenches, weapons etc would have been very helpful and would have complimented the book. At times I found that I stopped reading to research things online which was frustrating.
Overall, this is a very interesting book and should definitely be picked up by anyone interested in World War I history. Just be prepared to research elements of the battlegrounds and tactics/weapons used that may not be fully described/illustrated in the book itself.
Unfortunately I feel it is let down slightly by an inconsistent writing style that at times is gripping and emotional which is great but at other times, is messy and dull.
The other issue for me is a personal gripe that other readers may not be bothered by. The book has a few maps which are interesting in themselves but when it comes to the descriptions of battles and tactics I believe much more detailed maps and diagrams of trenches, weapons etc would have been very helpful and would have complimented the book. At times I found that I stopped reading to research things online which was frustrating.
Overall, this is a very interesting book and should definitely be picked up by anyone interested in World War I history. Just be prepared to research elements of the battlegrounds and tactics/weapons used that may not be fully described/illustrated in the book itself.
January 17, 2018
I honestly couldn’t see myself giving this book a 5 star rating after reading about the british tactics: i thought the views of the author were outdated and he didn’t put enough emphasis on the urgency for the Brits to relieve Verdun.. the attack simply had to be made at a time even British high command thought too early.
After that slight dissapointment, i found the book was rather splendid. Not only focussing on British but also German efforts turned the story into something rather complete. The buildup was lenghty, which enabled me to get a feeling for who these lads who were about the be send into battle were. The battle itself was clear without being overly gory as some of Lyn Macdonald’s are. The final chapter gives a great overview that is often missed in World War One books: it tells the story of the views after te war. Debunking the old ‘Lions led by donkies’ myth is always a plus in my book.
It’s not quite Martin Middlebrook’s ageless account but still up there with the best Somme books there are.
After that slight dissapointment, i found the book was rather splendid. Not only focussing on British but also German efforts turned the story into something rather complete. The buildup was lenghty, which enabled me to get a feeling for who these lads who were about the be send into battle were. The battle itself was clear without being overly gory as some of Lyn Macdonald’s are. The final chapter gives a great overview that is often missed in World War One books: it tells the story of the views after te war. Debunking the old ‘Lions led by donkies’ myth is always a plus in my book.
It’s not quite Martin Middlebrook’s ageless account but still up there with the best Somme books there are.
May 2, 2020
Robert Kershaw has used the personal accounts from those on both sides of the wire to tell the history of 1st July. An easy to follow and clear structure takes the reader through the day, and both British and German perspectives. The latter providing a rare insight into the German experience, though a number of books in recent years go into much more depth, Anthony Sheldon, and Christopher Duffy in particular.
Kershaw does not offer up new analysis of the battle, nor does he delve into the arguments for why the first day was such a disaster, and many of the individuals quoted, at least on the British side, will be well known to those who are well read on the war, Charles Carrington and Richard Tawney, both feature heavily for example. However, what is provided is an extremely accessible overview of the day from the perspective of those who were there, which does not require an encyclopedic knowledge of the battle to understand, for which I applaud the author.
Kershaw does not offer up new analysis of the battle, nor does he delve into the arguments for why the first day was such a disaster, and many of the individuals quoted, at least on the British side, will be well known to those who are well read on the war, Charles Carrington and Richard Tawney, both feature heavily for example. However, what is provided is an extremely accessible overview of the day from the perspective of those who were there, which does not require an encyclopedic knowledge of the battle to understand, for which I applaud the author.
June 12, 2018
This is just an exceptional book from beginning to end, exhaustively researched by Robert Kershaw and frankly one of the most sobering and angering books I have ever read. The stories of heroism in the face of incompetent generals with their appalling tactics confirms the lions led by donkeys tag and leaves the reader numb at times. I read it in small parts every evening for about 6 weeks as that was the only way I could deal with it. It certainly wasn't one I wanted to take on the train as that would probably have been far too intense. Anyone who is interested in the reality of war in general or the Somme in particular must read this book. It is a massive achievement and at the very top rank of factual books in any genre.
April 14, 2022
Of course I knew there had been a Battle of the Somme in WW1, and that it had been terrible; but, never having studied WW1, I didn’t know the context - what happened, how it happened and why it happened, and its place within the War overall. Now I do.
Despite some confusing military terminology and the odd lapse in prose construction, this is a detailed, well-researched and ultimately moving narrative of the first day of the Battle, from both British and German perspectives. It left me with the same question as many of the British soldiers: ‘Why?!’
Despite some confusing military terminology and the odd lapse in prose construction, this is a detailed, well-researched and ultimately moving narrative of the first day of the Battle, from both British and German perspectives. It left me with the same question as many of the British soldiers: ‘Why?!’
January 5, 2018
A well put together book that incorporates the accounts of combatants and observers with a tactical and logistical overview (from both sides) in a fairly neat chronology. An even-handed narrative too; Kershaw doesn't neglect the devastating human cost of the Battle of the Somme yet is never needlessly sentimental. Recommended to experts and novices of the subject alike.
December 31, 2022
Very well written and researched. I appreciated that the author took eyewitness accounts from both sides which really gives you an insight to the horrific things they saw. It's a very tough thing to read but well worth it.
January 3, 2017
The horrors of WW1 revealed... it is quite a slog in places, but well worth sticking with - definitely not a 'pick up and put down' book!
April 18, 2018
Excellently researched account of the first 24 hours of the Battle of the Somme let down slightly by an inconsistent writing style and some passages of repeated information.
January 9, 2022
Great explanation hour by hour of the first day.
January 4, 2023
Heartbreaking read. So much senseless death.
August 6, 2016
Phenomenal level of detail and first person reportage almost transports you back to the trenches in 1916. Some of the small details are the most telling. What most stuck with me is the powerful sense of a different world, in a different time - only 100 years ago and yet as much a history book now as one about the Tudors or the Norman conquests.
December 5, 2016
Thoroughly enjoyed this account of the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Could have done wth a few more maps to make the descriptions in the narrative even clearer. But the brutality and sadly the futility of what happened that day comes through from the eye witness accounts from both sides. A truly disastrous day.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews