Images of War: Rare Photographs From Wartime Archives

Images of War: Rare Photographs From Wartime ArchivesThe British on the Somme 1916: Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives by Philip Gibbs
ISBN: 1473837812
Published by Pen and Sword Military on April 3, 2017
Pages: 128

 

Images of War: Rare Photographs From Wartime ArchivesFrench Army at Verdun by Ian Sumner
ISBN: 1473856159
Published by Pen and Sword Military on April 30, 2016
Pages: 121

The photo albums in the Images of War series each contain up to 250 black and white archival photographs. The Somme photographs are accompanied by text written by Official War Correspondent Sir Philip Gibbs, who was an eyewitness to the events. Some of his captions are questionable. For example, on page 42 there is a photo of a British 6-inch howitzer with the notation “there were too few heavy guns available to the British on 1 July.” This sounds like an official excuse to explain the lack of success. The British Army had 427 heavy guns on 1 July, nearly four times the number available at the Battle of Loos nine months earlier in September 1915. And the claim on page 123 that the Somme was the bloodiest battle of the Great War ignores Verdun and the battle for Przemyl on the Eastern Front.

By comparison, the Verdun book’s captions are longer and much more detailed and interesting. Unfortunately, neither book has an index, making it impossible to relocate interesting images and text.

Reviewed by Dana Lombardy, publisher of WWOI

The First Battle of the Marne 1914: The French ‘miracle’ halts the Germans

The First Battle of the Marne 1914: The French ‘miracle’ halts the GermansThe First Battle of the Marne 1914: The French 'miracle' halts the Germans by Ian Sumner, Graham Turner
ISBN: 9781846035029
Published by Osprey Publishing on May 25th 2010
Genres: History, Military, World War I, Europe, France, Germany, Illustrated
Pages: 96

Len's Summary: A brief, illustrated history of the battle.

They Shall Not Pass: The French Army on the Western Front 1914-1918

They Shall Not Pass: The French Army on the Western Front 1914-1918They Shall Not Pass: The French Army on the Western Front 1914-1918 by Ian Sumner
ISBN: 9781848842090
on May 19th 2012
Genres: History, Military, World War I, France
Pages: 256

Len's Summary: A survey history of the French Army.