Reflections from the Somme Battlefield

On the first day of the Battle of the Somme on July 1st, 1916, British military forces suffered the worst day of casualties in British history. There were more than 57,000 casualties—including more than 19,000 soldiers killed—most of them in the first hour.

While driving across France, author John Strider Nation saw a sign—Ligne du Front—“Front Line.” Uncertain and curious, he stopped to find out to what it was referring. His one-day detour to the Somme turned into a month-long sojourn. In this book, Nation shares his explorations and reflections. Wandering the trenches, talking with guides and visitors, watching “the gleaners” collect unburied and long-buried ammunition, and visiting the cemeteries and final resting places of soldiers named and unnamed, Nation considers the tragedy that was believed to be the “war to end all wars.”

It is a powerful reflection about one battle and what it means to be human in a world of war.