The Somme

by John Harris

In 1916 the Great War seemed caught in a stalemate. The British were determined to break it with a huge summer push. By the time the campaign wound down in November, it proved to be the most destructive ever encounter for the Army, seeing thousands of casualties for every day of the conflict. It wasn't meant to have been like the British had a massive artillery superiority, and were primed to crush their enemy. In the end, despite fierce fighting, the Germans lost far fewer men. The Somme has come to be an emblem for the horrors of war, for the pounding of shells and the hunkering down in rain-sodden trenches. What happened? How did it go so wrong for the British? Here in sharp detail, the bestselling writer John Harris tells the story of one the key battles of world history, describing in gripping terms how a series of events soon spiralled wildly, and hopelessly, out of control. This is an unforgettable history of assault and bitter defence that takes the reader into the ferocious heart of a conflict whose scars remain today.

Genres: History

204 pages, Paperback

Published January 27, 2022

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

John[2 spaces]Harris : Historical Fiction
John[3 spaces]Harris : Non Fiction
John[4 spaces]Harris : Treehouse
John[5 spaces]Harris : Music
John[6 spaces]Harris : Management
John[7 spaces]Harris : Child Psychology
John[8 spaces]Harris : Children's
John[9 spaces]Harris : Drama
John[10 spaces]Harris : John Harris of Bolenowe, poet and preacher
John[11 spaces]Harris : -
John[12 spaces]Harris : History, Architecture
John[13 spaces]Harris : born 1942
John[14 spaces]Harris : Reverend John Harris (1802 - 1856)
John[15 spaces]Harris : -
John[16 spaces]Harris : History
John[17 spaces]Harris : born 1937
John[18 spaces]Harris : -
John[19 spaces]Harris : Backpacker
John[20 spaces]Harris : Erotic, LGBT
John[21 spaces]Harris : born 1667
John[22 spaces]Harris : GR Author
John[25 spaces]Harris : GR Author

Reviews

[Paul]

Written by John Harris in 1966, the year forever etched in my memory as a 9 year old boy, as the year that England won the World Cup, and the year following the passing of Sir Winston Churchill.
But the infinitely greater significance of 1966 is that of being 50 years after the Battle of the Somme.
Such a remarkably well-written account, by Harris, a former military man himself. But there are no glib triumphs here, no glorying in the 1.25 million lives that soaked into the fields of Picardy, roughly 50/50 British and German. He portrays a fruitless, pointless battle for nothing.
Rather, the Somme is portrayed as the battle that took the brightest and the best of young men on both sides. It broke the spirit, not only of German military genius. but of everyone. It created a pacifism that said "never again" as "the war to end all wars. " And most tragic of all, it created the mindset of the 20's and 30's that did nothing to prevent Hitler and Mussolini, when they could have been stopped. Indeed, the brutality and bloodshed on the Somme (specifically) paved the way for Adolph Hitler, and for 1939-45.
Harris concludes, even in 1966, by summarily warning that lessons must be learned for our ever-contemporary situation. For myself, I see a parallel, when Iran stands behind the conflict today in Gaza, and too little is done too late, in the vain hope that it will all resolve itself. He that has ears to hear, let him hear.

[John Naylor]

I finished this book and tried to think of a word to describe it. I decided on "adequate".

It tells the story of the Somme as well as what came before it in The Great War adequately. It just lacks detail or a sense of emotion. The horror is lost as is the humanity in this telling. It is a good start for anyone who wants the details of The Somme but there are better accounts and books about it.

[Boyke Rahardian]

“The Somme was Britain's first experience since Waterloo of the real cost of a war conducted against a powerful European nation and the shock was brutal. For sustained horror, nothing, not even in the Second World War, ever equalled it.”

“The Somme set the picture by which future generations remember the First World War, brave helpless soldiers disillusioned by blundering obstinate generals who achieved nothing in return for systematic slaughter.”

Not exactly a bad book but compared to other World War 1 books, the excellent Tuchman’s “Guns of August” and Meyer’s “A World of Undone”, it feels lacking in depth somehow.

[Jeff Jones]

I've read more books about the First World War and The Somme in particular, than I care to remember, but it never fails to amaze me that every single one still manages to engage me and usually has something different to offer and this one was no exception. It's only a short book (hence I managed to read it in one evening), but it covers everything, starting with some of the causes of WW1, through the build-up to the battle and then of course a brief overview of the battle itself. A fascinating and very enjoyable read.

[DEREK J BROOKS]

Tragedy of ignoorance

The lack of of original thought and inability to move out of the rigid 19th century class system led to the slaughter of a generation of young men in the First World War and also the horrors of World War 2.

[Ian Willey]

The books too small for such a big topic, it will work as a starting point. Major issue with it is the mistake of talking about the SS in the battle!!!!

[Ron Musgrove]

A perfunctory overview, nothing more.