When The Somme Ran Red

[Guest indyslim]

Hi all! First, I'm new to the forums, so "hello"!

Just finished reading When the Somme Ran Red on my Kindle, and thought I would join the forums and see what else is out there. I've never really read World War I era books, so this one was an eye opener. The context of the story is that this is a real account of a civilian fellow who decides to travel to Belgium to document the war with his camera, to send news back to Britain. The general impression that he gives of the early days of the war in Belgium is that it was a little bit confused, and not altogether the bleak scene that he opens up in the second part of the book. In part two, he has enlisted in the British army and becomes an officer, eventually leading troops in trench warfare. His story includes his experiences in the opening day of the Battle of the Somme. Being new to this part of history, the combination of antiquated and modern technologies was very interesting, but more than anything, I like the frank and sometimes jocular attitude of the author. While it is perhaps a bit morbid, the author exercises quite a fair amount of his British wit, and it makes this book a lot of fun when the setting calls for a lot more morose of a tone. I think this one is worth the read.

The book very nearly reminded me of Joseph Heller's Catch-22 (wrong war, I know) in tone. This might be attributed to the fact that When the Somme Ran Red is a work of non-fiction (Catch-22 being fiction). Is black humor a common theme in World War I materials? Are there other World War I books that you folks might recommend that are able to maintain a lighter tone, or perhaps a somewhat incredulous perspective on the business of war?

Thanks!

Indy Slim

[Neil Mackenzie]

Welcome to the Forum Indy.

It seems that Arthur was a bit of a character and lived a varied life including shooting wild game (in both a photography and killing sense). If you liked his writing style you might do worse than try his account of his life:-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rolling-Adventures-Arthur-Radclyffe-Dugmore/dp/B000858KX6

[Guest]

Also available for free on archive.org in the virtual library, for free, as is much other great material Click

Mike

[Guest indyslim]

Thanks for the pointer, Neil!

LOL - where were you two weeks ago, Mike!?! No matter, I'm not sure I know how to load content outside of Amazon onto my Kindle anyway, and I read a lot on travel.

[Guest]

Thanks for the pointer, Neil!

I'm not sure I know how to load content outside of Amazon onto my Kindle anyway, and I read a lot on travel.

I haven't done it with a kindle, but I'm sure it's just a case of clicking on the kindle link. Might be worth persevering, as there are millions of free books available, many classics, as well as WW1, in fact every subject under the sun. FREE

Mike