Gloucestershire and North Bristol Soldiers on the Somme

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1 July 1916
1914
1918
A01=Nick Thornicroft
armed conflict
attrition
Author_Nick Thornicroft
battle
British Army
casualties
Category=JWCD
Category=JWLF
Category=NHD
Category=NHW
Category=NHWR5
Category=WQH
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
First World War
Gloucestershire
local history
military history
North Bristol
patriotic
rank and file
slaughter
soldiers
Somme
The Great War
World War I
World War One
WWI

Product details

  • ISBN 9780752443256
  • Weight: 420g
  • Dimensions: 172 x 248mm
  • Publication Date: 01 Jun 2007
  • Publisher: The History Press Ltd
  • Publication City/Country: GB
  • Product Form: Paperback
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When war broke out in 1914 there was a widespread sense of optimism among the British public. Fired by patriotic fervour and pride in their nation, many were convinced that 'it would all be over by Christmas' and young men rushed to join the army and share in the 'honour and glory' of war. These illusions were swiftly lost as a war of attrition developed; advances on both sides were small and casualties high. Even with this background, the slaughter on 1 July 1916 of thousands of British soldiers, who went over the top to their deaths on the Somme, shocked a world increasingly conditioned to the realities of armed conflict. Nick Thornicroft delves into the heart of the British Army on the blackest day in its history and gives a vivid portrayal of Gloucestershire soldiers in the heat of battle; these ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances, fighting with incredible bravery for their country's future. Through assiduous research and compassion for his subject, Nick Thornicroft has woven the experiences of Gloucestershire and North Bristol's soldiers into the wider military story, and in doing so brings a human aspect to one of the most inhuman battles in history.

Nick Thornicroft has had a lifelong interest in the history of the First World War and is a contributor to newspapers and journals on the subject, including the Victoria Cross Journal and the Great War Magazine. By trade an undertaker, he lives in Gloucester.

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