Malcolm Brown for Pan. This is a very useful book, mostly of reminiscences, of the Somme in its widest context. Unlike the usual fare from sub-wargamer authors this book sticks pretty much to how the Somme was seen then, not how A.J.P.Taylor thought it was later. There is a remarkable degree of determination and a desire to be in action fighting. While this cannot disguise the other views (often held by the same diarist) that it was grim stuff and that the Staff were none too bright. To add to its value this really is the book of the Somme and not just the first day. We journey across the area, follow the build-up, get ready to jump off, go through the first day and the subsequent actions, see the tanks at Flers, finish up on the Ancre, hear from the Germans, follow the withdrawal to the new line, and pass through the area twice in 1918 (once each way). There is much that is surprising, and a lot we have seen already, but this is not the Somme of the "butchers and bunglers" school, rather something much more complex between rite of passage and tragedy. More Old Duffer's Book Corner (book reviews) Dervish St Bartholomew's Eve The Vietnam War El Alamein 1943 The Victory That Never Was Crete: The Battle and the Resistance The Imperial War Museum Book of The Somme The Spanish Civil War Armies of The 19th Century Asia: China The Russian Civil War Julius Caesar: Man, Soldier & Tyrant The Battle for Normandy The Siege of Vienna Vimy! The Great Boer War Harold: The Last Anglo-Saxon King Pallas Armata Back to Perfidious Albion #102 Table of Contents Back to Perfidious Albion List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by Charles and Teresa Vasey. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com