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Title: The Somme 1916: Crucible of a British Army by Michael Chappell, Mike Chappell ISBN: 1-85915-012-8 Publisher: WAG Books Pub. Date: August, 1998 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $100.00

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Average Customer Rating: 4 (1 review)

Rating: 4
Summary: An interesting if brief book
Comment: There was more to the battle of the Somme than the first day. That's a fairly obvious fact, but it's one which history sometimes seems to overlook. The sheer emotional impact of 60,000 British casualties in one day is generally enough to trap and hold anyone's attention.

Chappell's book goes beyond the Somme's first bloody day in a way few authors have, dwelling less on the morbid details of the miles-long casualty lists and more on the battle's far-reaching effects. One issue on which I disagree with Mr. Chappell is how much of an effect the battle truly had in regard to relieving German pressure on Verdun. After all, the Germans had one or two good opportunities to capture Verdun, which they declined. Falkenhayn, the German commander and darling of the Kaiser, had no real desire to take Verdun, only to use the battle as a means of "bleeding France white." For anyone who would like to know more about that battle, Alistair Horne has an excellent book titled "The Price of Glory - Verdun 1916" available here on amazon.

Chappell also comes uncomfortably close at times to being a 'Haig apologist' Sir Douglas Haig, the commander of the BEF from December 1915 until the end of the war, has often been reviled for the atrocious losses suffered by the British at the Somme. While that particular battle may have been unavoidable, and indeed exacted a heavy price from the Germans, Haig plodded unimaginatively on in his prosecution of the war - as seen in the ghastly battle at Flanders in 1917.

Despite these flaws, Chappell has done an excellent job in drawing together the diverse elements of the battle, as well as presenting a cogent case for the battle's long-reaching ramifications, both within the war and for Britain as a whole. It has been postulated by many writers that the Somme was a dramatic turning point for the British Army and the British Empire. Chappell takes this common assumption and shows us what it means.

I recommend this book to other students of World War I, but implore Chappell to insist on a different cover for the next printing. This one is terrible.