Books on Battles of the First World War

The Battle for Palestine 1917, John D. Grainger. Looks at the British conquest of Palestine in 1917, which began with two defeats at Gaza before Allenby arrived to take over and successfully broke the Ottoman lines at Gaza before taking Jerusalem late in the year to give the beleaguered allies a valuable morale boost. Gives a balanced view of the abilities of Allenby’s predecessor Murray, who had to deal with many other issues as well as Palestine, but also examines why Allenby was a more capable battlefield commander (Read Full Review)

Kut - The Death of an Army, Ronald Millar. After a brief look at the first major setback suffered by Townshend’s army at Ctesiphon, the book focuses on the long siege of Kut and the desperate attempts to lift the siege, which saw the relief forces get to within a relatively short distance of Kut, so their battles could be seen and heard from within the besieged town. A rather depressing book in that we know the end of the story and the fate of besieged, but an excellent account of the siege despite that (Read Full Review)

With their Bare Hands – General Pershing, the 79th Division and the battle for Montfaucon, Gene Fax. Focuses on the exploits of the 79th Division during the Meuse-Argonne offensive, one of the largest battles in US military history, and in particular the battle for Montfaucon, supported by an excellent account of the American entry into the First World War, the doctrine and training of the US Army, the decisions of Pershing and his senior commanders. Shows how the American army was able to learn from its costly experiences and adapt to the conditions on the Western Front, often despite Pershing’s own believes about how the fighting should have gone(Read Full Review)

Decisive Victory - the Battle of the Sambre, 4 November 1918, Derek Clayton. Looks at the BEF’s last major battle of the First World War, in which the Germans were forced out of their last prepared defensive line in a single day, marking the start of the final collapse of German resistance and the start of the rush to the Armistice. Aims to look at the level of skill displayed by the BEF towards the end of the victorious 100 Days campaign, tracing the balance between skill, experience and exhaustion(Read Full Review)

Breaking Point of the French Army - The Nivelle Offensive of 1917, David Murphy. Looks at the state of the French army at the start of 1917, the hopes raised by Nivelle when he took command, the failure of his offensive and the crisis of morale caused by that failure. Includes interesting material on how Nivelle and his team were able to ignore the evidence that there were problems with their plan, and on how Petain managed to undo the damage to the French army in remarkably little time (Read Full Review)

Aisne 1918, David Blanchard. Focuses on the first day of the battle, when a series of weakened British divisions in poor defensive positions were overwhelmed and the Allied line was temporarily broken. Based around a series of regimental histories of the fighting on that first day, followed by a shorter overview of the rest of the battle. Helps explain why the Germans were able to achieve such a dramatic breakthrough on the first day of the battle (Read Full Review)

The Horns of the Beast - The Swakop River Campaign and World War I in South-West Africa 1914-15, James Stejskal. Focuses on the successful South African invasion of German South-West Africa, a brief campaign that rarely gets more than a paragraph or two in histories of the First World War. This book focuses on one part of that campaign, the successful advance up the Swakop River which led to the defeat of the main German army in the area and the eventual surrender of the entire colony. Often neglected, this was an important victory for the South Africans, and helped unite the colony at the start of the Great War [read full review]

Battle on the Aisne 1914: The BEF and the Birth of the Western Front, Jerry Murland. A history of the British Army's involvement in the Battle of the Aisne, the moment when the war of movement ended and the stalemate of the trenches began, effectively beginning the Western Front as we understand it. Supported by copious eyewitness accounts, this is an excellent study of this often neglected battle. [read full review]

Fromelles 1916: No Finer Courage, the Loss of an English Village, Michael Senior. A look the impact of the First World War on the Buckinghamshire village of The Lee, and the tragic losses suffered by that village during the disastrous attack on Fromelles in July 1916. [read full review]

The Battle of Bellecourt Tunnel: Tommies, Diggers and Doughboys on the Hindenburg Line, 1918, Dale Blair. A study of one of the first coalition battles on the Western Front to include large numbers of American troops, fighting as part of the Australian Corps during the successful attack on the Hindenburg Line. Their attack wasn't a success, although the hard-fighting Australians were eventually able to push the Germans back some way. Here Blair looks at this early coalition battle and examines the reasons for its comparative failure. [read full review]

ANZAC Infantryman 1914-15, From New Guinea to Gallipoli, Ian Sumner. Looks at the raising, training and deployment of the Australian and New Zealand armies in 1914-15, a period that saw them deployed in the south Pacific, Egypt and most famously at Gallipoli. Gallipoli rather dominates, but it is nice to have more of the background than normal. [read full review]

The Ironclads of Cambrai, Bryan Cooper. A classic account of the first large scale tank battle, a brief triumph that despite ending as a draw helped pave the way for the eventual Allied victories of 1918, and that saw the tank emerge as an important weapon of war after a rather low-key introduction into service [read full review]

Cambrai 1917: The Birth of Armoured Warfare, Alexander Turner. A well organised and illustrated account of the first battle to see the tank used in large numbers as a shock weapon.

Rommel & Caporetto, John Wilks and Eileen Wilks. Two interesting books in one - first a general history of the battle of Caporetto, where the Germans and Austrians nearly broke the Italian army and second an examination of the young Rommel's role in the battle where he first made his name. [read full review]

This Bloody Place - With the Incomparable 29th, Major A.H. Mure. A Gallipoli memoir published in 1919, but written during the war, centred on Mure's 43 days on shore at Gallipoli. An honest, largely unvarnished account of the fighting, which despite Mure's pride in the Allied achievement on Gallipoli doesn't skip over the horrors of the fighting, from the constant presence of death to Mure's own nervous breakdown that saw him invalided home. Gives a good impression of how frantic the fighting was in the narrow Gallipoli beachhead [read full review]

The Nek - A Gallipoli Tragedy, Peter Burness. Looks at one of the most costly disasters of the Gallipoli campaign in which four waves of dismounted light Australian cavalrymen charged towards Turkish machine guns on a narrow front and suffered appalling casualties. This study looks at the attack itself, the background to the units and their commanders, with a focus on why the later waves of attackers were allowed to make futile and costly assaults. [read full review]

Battleground Gallipoli: Suvla August Offensive, Stephen Chambers. A detailed history of the disastrous British landing at Sulva Bay in August 1915, an offensive that showed the British high command at almost its worst. Ends with three day-long walks around the battlefield area. All well supported by eyewitness accounts and contemporary photographs. [read full review]

Gallipoli 1915, Haythornthwaite, Philip J., Osprey Publishing, Oxford, 1991, Campaign Series No. 8. This Osprey covers the famous Gallipoli campaign in World War I, where British, Australian and New Zealand forces fought a bloody stalemate against the Turks in a hope of opening a second Front. [see more]

Gallipoli , Moorehead, Alan, Wordsworth Editions Ltd, Ware, 1997

James, Robert Rhodes. 'Gallipoli Campaign' in Holmes, R. (Ed) Oxford Companion to Military History, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2001, pp. 343 - 345.

Travers, Tim. 'The Army and the Challenge of War 1914 - 1918' in Chandler, David and Beckett, Ian. The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Army, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1994, pp. 215 - 240.

Fromkin, David. 'Gallipoli Campaign' in Cowley, Robert & Parker, Geoffrey. The Osprey Companion to Military History, Osprey Publishing, 1996, London, pp. 175 - 176.

The Battle of Loos, Philip Warner. The heart of this book is a series of eyewitness accounts of the battle from each of the British divisions involved in the battle, mostly taken from letters written to the author by survivors of the fighting in the 1970s. The result is a classic work of military history that takes us into the trenches in a way that few other books manage. [read full review]

Messines 1917: The zenith of siege warfare, Alexander Turner. A good clear account of one of the most successful British offensives of the First World War, and a classic example of the success possible when formal siege techniques were applied to the deadlock on the Western Front. The battle is best known for the massive mines that were detonated at its start, but also saw a significant improvement in the British use of artillery and the benefits of a well organised plan [read full review]

Retreat and Rearguard 1914: The BEF's Actions from Mons to the Marne, Jerry Murland. A very detailed account of the days from the battle of Mons to the end of the retreat and the first steps towards victory on the Marne, a period dominated by a long retreat and a number of fierce rear-guard actions. Well supported by eyewitness accounts of the retreat, and with evidence from the British, French and German sides, this is a good addition to the literature on this well-studied period. [read full review]

Mons: The Retreat to Victory, John Terraine. A classic account of the first phase of the fighting on the Western Front as it affected the B.E.F., from their arrival in France, to the battle of Mons itself and on to the long retreat and the battle of the Marne, supported by a good account of the experience of the French and German armies and their commanders [read full review]

Mons 1914 , David Lomas, An excellent book with detailed orders of battle and good maps and colour plates as well as photographs. Includes advice on wargamming the battle

Somme 1916 Battlefield Companion, Commonwealth War Graves Commission. A guide to the battle of the Somme built around a series of battlefield trails that visit the many Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries on the battlefield. An effective approach to this familiar topic, linking the cemeteries to the battles fought in their vicinity and attempting to explain where the men buried in each one were killed. Well designed for use as a guide, ring bound with oversized covers fold out covers useable as bookmarks, as well as keeping rain off the book. The tours themselves are largely road based, with visits the key cemeteries (Read Full Review)

Victoria Crosses on the Western Front - Somme 1916, 1 July 1916-13 November 1916, Paul Oldfield. Splits the story into two halves, first a series of narratives of the various stages of the battle looking at the context of how the VCs were won, and then a longer section of biographies, covering the lives of VC holders themselves as well as their families. The first half provides a readable narrative of the battle and it’s Victoria Crosses, the second half is much more of a reference work(Read Full Review)

Hold at All Costs! The Epic Battle of Delville Wood 1916, Ian Uys. A very detailed look at the battle of Delville Wood, one of the most intense parts of the battle of the Somme, and an important battle for the South Africans, who held the wood against determined German counter attacks for the first few days of the battle. Does a good job of covering the battle from both sides, using detailed German sources to demonstrate that both sides suffered heavy losses during the fighting (Read Full Review)

The 1916 Battle of the Somme Reconsidered, Peter Liddle. A modified version of a 1992 original that attempted to produce a new perspective of the battle of the Somme, seeing it as an essential step towards the eventual Allied victory, both for the damage it did to the German army and the improvements it forced on the British, as well as looking at the contemporary views of the soldiers involved in the fighting, suggesting that the average soldier wasn’t the disillusioned figure painted by the war poets or of the post-war period(Read Full Review)

The Somme - The Epic Battle in the Soldier's own Words and Photograph, Richard van Emden. Covers the entire period that the British army spent on the original Somme front, from its arrival late in 1915, through the battle of the Somme and up to the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line. Mainly uses the writings and private photos taken by British soldiers, but also includes some material from the German side [read full review]

The Battle of the Somme, ed. Matthew Strohn. Looks at the wider issues that surround the battle, from its place in the British, French and German strategy for 1916 to the long term impact of the battle, as well as the development of tactics during the battle, and the long term impact of the Somme. A useful volume that gives equal weight to the British, French and German experiences of the Somme, and helps place the battle in its true context.  [read full review]

Somme 1916 - Success and Failure on the First Day of the Battle of the Somme, Paul Kendall. Traces the fate of each British division to take part in the disastrous attack on the first day of the Somme, moving from north to south, so from total failure to relative success. Allows the reader to see what elements the unsuccessful attacks had in common, as well as acknowledging the more successful fighting on the British right, close to the French lines [read full review]

The First Day on the Somme (Revised Edition), Martin Middlebrook. A classic work that help found an entire genre of military history, combining a detailed history of the first day of the battle of the Somme with extensive extracts from eyewitness accounts of the fighting. The result is a truly excellent and moving account of the costly disaster of the First Day of the Somme, with a deserved reputation as a classic, and that hasn’t been out of print since 1971. [read full review]

Somme Intelligence - Fourth Army HQ 1916, William Langford. A fascinating collection of the intelligence material available to the British Fourth Army on the Somme, mainly captured German material, including letters to and from the front, extracts from diaries, orders and other material taken from German prisoners or found in the German trenches after successful attacks, all of which suggested that German morale was at a low ebb, and perhaps encouraging the Allied commanders in their belief that a major victory was possible. [read full review]

Slaughter on the Somme 1 July 1916 - The Complete War Diaries of the British Army's Worst Day, Martin Mace and John Grehan. An invaluable reference work for anyone interested in the First Day of the Somme, the most costly single day in the history of the British army, bringing together the war diaries entries for 1 July 1916 for every British battalion that took part in the battle and the diversionary attack Gommecourt. [read full review]

Images of War: Great Push, the Battle of the Somme 1916, William Langford. A selection of photographs taken from the pictorial magazine The Great Push, which ran from July to November 1916 and included some 700 official photographs and film stills. A fascinating collection of photographs that give an interesting insight into the image the British Army wanted to give of the fighting on the Somme. [read full review]

Somme Success: The Royal Flying Corps and the Battle of the Somme 1916, Peter Hart. A compelling account of the aerial battle fought alongside the more famous fighting on the ground during the long battle of the Somme. Focuses on what the air forces were attempting to achieve and how successful they were, with the more familiar duals between air aces and technological developments placed more firmly in context than is normally the case. [read full review]

Walking the Somme (Second Edition), Paul Reed. Sixteen walks on the Somme battlefield, each with a discussion of the historical significance of the area, supported by a good selection of contemporary and modern photographs, useful sketch maps and contemporary trench maps. Produced twenty years after the first edition, the author's knowledge of the battlefield shines through.[read full review]

Tanks on the Somme, from Morval to Beaumont Hamel, Trevor Pidgeon. A very detailed tank-by-tank account of the 'penny packet' operations that followed the initial larger scale introduction of the tank into warfare during the battle of the Somme. Supported by detailed maps and battlefield guides, this is one of the most detailed accounts of armoured warfare you will ever read! [read full review]

Images of War: The Germans on the Somme, David Bilton. This illustrated history of the Somme front during the First World War from the German perspective provides an unfamiliar view of a familiar topic, both visually and in the narrative. A valuable work that challenges the standard view of the battle of the Somme of 1916 as a British defeat, as well as giving an unusual perspective on the four year long campaign on the Somme. [read full review]

Verdun - The Left Bank, Christina Holstein. Looks at the key battles on the left bank of the Meuse at Verdun, which saw the Germans attempt to capture a series of French viewpoints that allowed their artillery to hit the Germans operating on the right bank. Two thirds of the book provides a history of these bitter battles, the final third provides three tours of this generally unvisited area. One of the better examples of this genre, with good clear narratives that explain why these battles were so important, and give a clear idea of their progress without getting bogged down, supported by three tours that provide extra context to the fighting (Read Full Review)

The French Army at Verdun, Ian Sumner. The battle of Verdun was the defining experience of the First World War for the French, and a huge proportion of the army took part the defence of the fortress city. This photographic study covers an impressively wide range of topics, from the muddy chaos of the front lines to the massive supply operation, with aerial photographs to give a dramatic overview of the impact of the fighting [read full review]

Battleground Verdun: Fort Vaux, Christina Holstein. A detailed account of the siege of Fort Vaux, a short but important part of the wider Battle of Verdun, combined with a history of the fort and four self-guided tours of Fort Vaux and the surrounding area. A splendid account of a claustrophobic battle fought in horrendous conditions. [read full review]

The Battle for Flanders - German Defeat on the Lys 1918, Chris Baker. An account of the second major German offensive of 1918, Operation Georgette, or the Battle of the Lys of April 1918. A clear narrative is supported by copious eyewitness accounts from the British side to produce a clear account of this pivotal battle after which the Germans began to lose the initiative on the Western Front [read full review]

The Fortifications of Verdun, 1874-1917, Clayton Donnell. A study of the fortifications of Verdun, from the first modern works after the Franco-Prussian War to the brutal siege of 1916 and on to the modern preservation of the battlefield. Has some interesting material on the way in which fortifications developed in response to the appearance of high explosive shells fired from rifled artillery as well as on the appearance of the forts during the First World War and the siege itself. [read full review]

Ypres 1914: Messines, Nigel Cave and Jack Sheldon. Looks at the fighting around Messines during the First Battle of Ypres, where the Germans were able to capture the ridge itself but were unable to break through the British lines or capture Ypres itself. Covers the early cavalry actions fought before the line began to stabilize as well as the more famous battles around Messines Ridge at the end of October, when a thin line of exhausted troops from the BEF managed to slow down and then stop a German attack. Supported by a series of guided tours to the battlefield area, each with its own map and comments on the area (Read Full Review)

Trial by Gas - the British Army at the Second Battle of Ypres, George H. Cassar. Looks at the first use of poisoned gas on the Western Front, and the only major German offensive in the west in 1915, one of the great ‘missed chances’ of the First World War. Very detailed account of the British side of the battle, supported by excellent maps showing the overall progress of the battle. Could do with more on the German point of view, but otherwise excellent(Read Full Review)

A Moonlight Massacre, Michael Locicero. A detailed history of a little known night attack that came after the official end of the Third Battle of Ypres, and that was intended to improve the British position on the northern edge of Passchendaele Ridge. Demonstrates the problems that could be caused by poor communications and the confusion of a night time attack, even in the increasingly expert British army of 1917, while also examining the real end of the British offensive action at Ypres in 1917 [read full review]

Images of War: The Germans in Flanders 1915-1916, David Bilton. A narrative history of the fighting in Flanders in 1915 and 1916 as seen from the German side, supported by a superb collection of photographs. Concludes with a chronology of the main events during these two years and a brief history of each German division that fought in Flanders in this period. [read full review]

Battleground Ypres: The Battle of the Lys 1918, Givenchy and the River Lawe, Phil Tomaselli. A detailed account of the fighting on the southern half of the battlefield during the first four days of the Battle of the Lys, one of the series of major German offensives that pushed the Allied line back in the spring and early summer of 1918. Finishes with a selection of tours of the battlefield [read full review]

Cameos of the Western Front: Salient Points Five, Ypres and Picardy 1914-18, Tony Spagnoly and Ted Smith. A collection of ten short accounts of incidents in the fighting around the Ypres salient from the earliest battles of 1914 into 1917. A useful volume for anyone planning to visit the battlefields that can be used to guide them to the sites of some of the less well known moments of the fighting. [read full review]

Tannenberg 1914 – Destruction of the Russian Second Army, Michael McNally. Looks at the first part of the German victory in East Prussia in 1914, the destruction of the Russian Second Army at what became known as the battle of Tannenberg, after a campaign in which the Germans were often outnumbered and frequently considered themselves to be in serious trouble, before winning a crushing victory that undermined the entire Russian position in East Prussia (Read Full Review)

Russia's Last Gasp: The Eastern Front 1916-17, Prit Buttar. Looks at the most successful Russian offensive of the First World War, the Brusilov offensive of 1916, its eventual failure, and the collapse of the Tsarist regime that followed in 1917. Combines an excellent military history of the various campaigns with a detailed look at the political background in Russia, the failings of the Tsarist regime and its army, and the collapse of support for the Tsar that led to the first Russian Revolution [read full review]

Images of War: The Russian Revolution, World War to Civil War 1917-1921, Nik Cornish. A good selection of photos covering all of the main factions during the Russian Revolution and the costly Civil War that followed, including some of pre-Revolutionary times and of the Germans who occupied parts of western Russia during 1918. All supported by useful captions and a good brief history of the period. [read full review]

Churchill's Crusade: The British Invasion of Russia 1918-1920, Clifford Kinvig. A fascinating look at a little known British campaign, the intervention in Russian in 1918-1920 that began as an attempt to reopen the Eastern Front of the First World War and turned into an attack on the Bolshevik regime. Although the British intervention was part of a wider international campaign, Britain, and Churchill in particular, played a key role in prolonging the campaign. [see more]