New Book on the Somme

[Ron]

I have just finished reading Gary Sheffield's 'The Somme'. It is a short book and more in the nature of a summary of events in the classic Somme period of 1916 rather than a full study. I am not qualified to comment on the quality of the military history but found no surprises. He is friendly to Haig and judges the battle to have been instrumental in 'blooding' the British army and helping to turn it into the war-winning force that it became in 1918.

My gripe is about the production of the book itself. Because it is a relatively small book, all the maps and many of the photographs are spread across both pages of the open book so that part of the illustration is lost in the crease. This is invariably the bit you are most anxious to see.

I don't know why publishers do this. Some detail might be lost by restrictng the printing to one page but at least you would be able to see the whole thing. I have noticed that this frustrating habit has become common in military history books in recent years.

Ron

[Somme1916]

Ron,

I've recently bought the same book and while I think it is a fine introductory book I agree the publisher could have done better. As you pointed out the maps cover two pages and the binding crease obscures things in the middle, I also I would have liked for them to be in color.

I think Gary Sheffield did a very good job writing it and I enjoyed reading it. It's just a shame about the maps. I give it 8 out of 10 due to the shortfalls with the maps.

Cheers,

Jon