Passchendaele: 103 Days in Hell

Description

2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the 3rd Battle of Ypres. In `Passchendaele: 103 Days in Hell,' Alexandra Churchill, with Andrew Holmes and Jonathan Dyer, explains this pivotal engagement using 103 personal stories of men who fought in it. Using a unique method that draws extensively on both official military records and work with the descendants and families of their chosen subjects, the authors paint a vivid and engaging picture of a battle that has become synonymous with the wasteful suffering and horror of the Western Front and how it effected men who took part in it. The book is beautifully presented with portraits, original and modern photography of the battlefield and of Commonwealth War Graves sites. This, combined with an imaginative, balanced selection of voices from on, behind, above and below the battlefields, and taken from both sides of no man's land, combine to make a lasting and worthy tribute to own for the centenary of Passchendaele.

Alexandra Churchill is an author, researcher and historian who has contributed to and appeared on numerous television documentaries, including Timewatch (BBC2), Fighting the Red Baron (Channel 4) and Titanic with Len Goodman (BBC1) and Channel 4's Secret Histories. Her first book, the critically acclaimed Blood and Thunder: The Boys of Eton College and the First World War, was published in 2014. Her second book, Over Land and Sea: Chelsea FC in the Great War (2015), was her first collaboration with Andrew Holmes. The two collaborated again on Somme: 141 Days, 141 Lives (2016).

Once you have read what fills the pages of this remarkable book, you will never feel the same about Passchendaele and the people who fought there. This is a Book of the Year contender. * Books Monthly * A worthy tribute to the men who fought and died in the Flanders mud at the Third Battle of Ypres. * Military Historical Society Bulletin * The book includes an interesting and beautifully-shot selection of black and white "now" photographs of some of the memorials, cemeteries and gravestones relevant to the narrative...Overall, excellent and a good buy. * Long Long Trail * Packed full of rare personal photographs and contemporary grave images this would be of interest to anyone planning a battlefield visit in the future. * Soldier Magazine * A beautifully illustrated and enjoyable book...Highly recommended." *Winner of the November 2017 Book of the Month award* * Britain at War Magazine *