While best known as being the scene of the most terrible carnage in the WW1 the French department of the Somme has seen many other battles from Roman times to 1944. William the Conqueror launched his invasion from there; the French and English fought at Crecy in 1346; Henry V's army marched through on their way to Agincourt in 1415; the Prussians came in 1870. The Great War saw three great battles and approximately half of the 400,000 who died on the Somme were British - a terrible harvest, marked by 242 British cemeteries and over 50,000 lie in unmarked graves. These statistics explain in part why the area is visited year-on-year by ever increasing numbers of British and Commonwealth citizens. This evocative book written by the authors of the iconic First Day on the Somme.is a thorough guide to the cemeteries, memorials and battlefields of the area, with the emphasis on the fighting of 1916 and 1918, with fascinating descriptions and anecdotes.

Martin Middlebrook needs no introduction. Author of 16 books, including The First Day on the Somme, he is well known for his detailed research and clarity of style. His books include The Peenemunde Raid; Your Country Needs You, (both Pen and Sword Books), Task Force: The Falklands War and The Fight for the Malvinas.Mary Middlebrook has played an active part cooperating with her husband's literary activities, particularly with photography and artwork.