Diaries from the Somme

Catalogue record

Notes

This selection from the diaries of chiefly military personnel provides a diverse but accurate representation of the Somme campaign (July-Nov 1916), offering descriptions of preparations, morale, fatalities and conditions. Alongside firsthand accounts by those who fought with the British armed forces are others by medical staff, padres, and even an aged French civilian.
In his introduction, Malcolm Brown, Honorary Fellow in First World War Studies, University of Birmingham, re-ignites the debate over the historical importance of contemporary evidence compared to memoirs and interviews, often composed or conducted long after the event.
Diaries from the Somme represents the first in a series of CD-ROMs publications drawn from the more comprehensive microfilm series, War diaries from the Imperial War Museum, planned to cover major campaigns from both world wars.