100 years on from the end of the infamous Battle of the Somme, Martin Middlebrook‘s iconic book, The First Day on the Somme (first published in 1971, revised edition published in 2016), is making headlines once again.

The Mail Online published an article earlier this week which features first-hand accounts of the events of 1 July 1916, gathered by the author during his original research. Following an appeal in local and national press for veterans’ accounts, Middlebrook received recollections from over 500 British and German veterans, some of which will now be added to the Imperial War Museums’ Great War digital memorial, Lives of the First World War.

Further reading: The Writing of The First Day on the Somme, an article by Warfare Magazine.

About the book: At the Battle of Waterloo Sir William Ponsonby, a man who the Duke of Wellington stated had ‘rendered very brilliant and important services and was an ornament to his profession’, was killed by French lancers after leading the Union Brigade (the three Dragoon Regiments of the Royals, Iniskillings and Scots Greys) in a charge that wrecked a French advance that threatened Wellington with defeat. Sir William was a career soldier who had led his regiment in the decisive charge at the Battle of Salamanca and served with great distinction during the Peninsular War. Yet historians have blamed him because the charge at Waterloo got out of hand.

John Morewood uses family sources, including Sir William’s letters, as well as French and German accounts, to restore his reputation and, by shedding new light on the battle, establishes what really happen to him on that fatal afternoon. It is also a biography of a man whose bravery and professionalism distinguished him as one of the outstanding cavalry commanders of the age.