Somme 1 July 1916: Tragedy and triumph (Campaign, 169)

I have read many books on battles but was surprized to find that this author was able to condense such a complex day into such a small book with such great success. his approach to and organization of the material provides one with a clear understanding of why most soldiers and officers felt quite confident of a decent outcome and, grimly enough, why the outcome was most indecent. naturally, given the size of the osprey format, for a hard-core purist it lacks in gritty personal details but there is just enough of it to give a realistic flavour to the words.for a brief but filling overview of a mythic battle, i can recommended this effort without hesitation.

As with the entire series, a good overview. As a campaign book, would have liked to have seen a bit more covering post 1 July, but the title say 1 July, so what could I expect. Good overview and a good reference for those interested in this important battle/campaign.

Very happy with the book and arrived on time.

Great reading in a short and concise format.

This book lays out, in the first 41 pages, the context of the Somme campaign: the events in World War One that preceded it, the state of the opposing armies, strategic objectives of the opposing sides, and looks at the opposing commanders.The rest of the 96 pages look at the first day of the Battle of the Somme including the experiences of soldiers on both sides. The concluding pages look at the battlefield today.It’s hardly my first exposure to the Battle of the Somme, a battle that looms as large as any in the memory of Englishmen for its greatest single day slaughter of the British Army.The book has a couple of points that stuck out for me.First is the “triumph” of the title. There were Allied successes on the first day. The British XIII Corps took its objectives including Montauban. The French army also got as far as second-line German positions.Second is placing Douglas Haig’s decision to continue offensive operations on July 2nd in context. At the time, due to problems in communication and co-ordination, he thought the first day casualty figures were about 16,000 – not the over 57,000 they actually were. Robertshaw also notes that the infamous remark Haig made in his journal the evening of July 2nd, "… the total casualties are estimated at over 40,000 to date. This cannot be considered severe in view of the numbers engaged, and the length of front attacked", shows he still didn’t know the cost of the first day of battle. Furthermore, he anticipated that the usual feature of trench warfare, offensive forces suffering more than defensive forces, would hold true for this battle and casualties would be heavy.The book also takes a look at the many reasons for the failure of the first day of the Somme and lessons learned.Recommended for those interested in World War One history and especially for the maps detailing one of the war’s most infamous events.

The author, Andrew Robertshaw does a great job of describing the events that occurred on July 1st, 1916. This was the first day of the Battle of the Somme; an engagement that would last until November. This was also the single bloodiest day of the battle.The author breaks down the campaign into smaller segments. It is described in chronological order and covered from north to south. Each individual engagement is then examined in detail. This style of writing allows the reader to more easily follow the course of events.As with all Osprey books, the assortment of photos and maps contribute significantly to the overall narrative. There are several outstanding photos which certainly help bring this campaign to life. The 2D maps are clear and aid greatly in helping the reader to follow the battle's progress. The book also has two 3D BEV maps and two full color battle scenes.This campaign is primarily covered from a British perspective. That said, it is written in a manner that seems generally balanced. The book ends with a description of the battlefield today. Although well done, it could have been shortened by a page or two. Given the limited space available in Osprey books, the narrative of the battle itself should always take priority.This book is best read in conjunction with Osprey campaign book #93 on the Battle of Verdun. The Battle of the Somme occurred just after Verdun. These two battles had a significant effect on each other with regard to the availability of men and material.Bottom line: this is an outstanding book. The maps and the segmented description of the battle complement each other very well. This book moves quickly and the reader should have little difficulty in following the progress of the campaign.

As expected

Wie von der Osprey-Serie bekannt wird hier auf 96 Seiten eine Schlacht beschrieben.Klar, auf 96 Seiten kann es keine ausführliche Geschichte sein, aber im Falle des Heftes "Somme 1 July 1916" gelingt es dem Autor, kurz und knackig diesen blutigen ersten Tag der Somme-Offensive zu beschreiben.Der Aufbau ist bewährt: Es wird die Ausgangslage beschrieben, eine Zeittafel hilft, die zeitliche Umgebung der Schlacht einzuordnen, es werden die Befehlshaber und die Armeen vorgestellt. Der Hauptteil umfasst den ersten Tag der Schlacht, welcher als der bis heute blutigste Tag in die Geschichte der britischen Armee einging.Fotos, Karten und Schrägansichten der Schlachtfelder helfen.Fazit: Kein Meisterwerk, nicht ausführlich, aber das Heft gibt einen Überblick, eine Basis, um die Schlacht zu verstehen.