Author: Paul Reed
Publisher: Leo Cooper , Pen and Sword Books Ltd.
ISBN: 0-85052-567-5 Price:£10.95
Last week the latest wo in the Series of Battleground Europe hit my mat. I confess to being a fan of this series. To me they are a better version of "Before Endeavours fade", they can afford to be detailed as they cover select areas, I decided to put my thoughts on this book down for all to see. The standard of this series is of such a high quality that I have a standing order with the publisher that I get sent a the new issues as they are published such is my confidence.
The book itself is paperback and contains 218 pages, price wise it's a pound more than the rest, but it is slightly thicker. It's a handy size to fit into a large pocket if you are out on the ground, others in the series have accompanied me to France and have mud stains to prove it. As a stand alone they are like having the front line today in your living room. Walking the Somme departs from the usual formula of picking an area, describing the actions there in detail, explaining how to tour it today, selected walks, to covering a large area in a series of walks, and they are designed to be on foot as well. I know of Paul Reed, he was in the neighbouring Sussex branch of the WFA, he moved out to live on the Somme and therefore his credentials as author are excellent.
I always give a new book a quick flick through to get a first impression. Mine was this looks very good. what stood out was it was packed with pictures I have never seen before. I get fed up of new books containing the tired old images, this one will please you as the author has delved into his extensive collection. In the introduction the author explains why he wrote about walking the somme and made a valueble point that the army did precisely that and he gets great pleasure from seing the area by foot. I have done the same and agree 100%, the somme is best seen on foot, you take in more if you park your car and get out and walk for several hours. This book will assist you as it has a range of walks in different interests and lengths, they all deal with the events of the 1916 battle.
From my brief knowledge of the area the directions are good, there is excellent detail of the events , the cemetery details are excellent and there is a feeling that the author really cares and loves the area he is describing. There are some walks I have pencilled in for my next visit, it is better to visit with the aid of a book like this, so you can appreciate the events fully. This isn't a spoonfeeding guide, just thought provoking as every individual gets something different out of their visit. The author also kindly points out the areas of private property etc, the locals can be a bit gun happy from my experience so this will keep you from nasty confrontions with the locals, remember the author lives amongst these people and respect his advice and respect thier privacy we are guests, and the locals are friendly if you treat their land with respect. All the walks are of the 1916 period, although the somme saw much fighting in 1918 it is hard to think of a walk to fit in the programme, the only loosely somme one that I could think of that could have been used was one around Villers Bretonneaux but perhaps there is some other book planned for that. The range of the walks though is excellent from pals areas, to behind the lines walk of the rear areas- something fro everyone After the walks there are a few pages on museums which contains some interesting advice. The indexing ,references and locations are excellently done so that even the most stupid of us can understand and locate information. Two points were slightly irritating, the first was some editing error which described a unit as the 1/1 Bucks regt, a new one in the order of battle and the term Australian for the country Australia, also the CV of the 18th Div was repeated several time which was I feel unnecessary. The book though I feel was excellent and iIgive it 9 out of 10, recommended fully
The walks covered;
Gommecourt-1st July 1916,
The Pals Walk-Serre,
Beaumont-Hamel,
Ancre Valley,
Thiepval,
The AIF- Pozieres Battlefield Walk,
The Yorkshire Walk-Fricourt 1st July 1916,
The Poets Walk- Bois Francais and Mametz.
Montauban-1st July 1916
Behind the lines
The Dawn Attack-Longueval 14th July 1916
High Wood
The Tank Walk- Longueval-ginchy-flers
Butte de Warlencourt
Guillemont Road