To the Last Man: Spring 1918

As poignant as Niall Fregussons The Pity of War as powerful as John Keegans The First World War this is an engrossing eye-witness history of World War I. From the trenches to the battle lines in bold advances and fighting retreats and courageous stands this oral chronicle of World War I by award-winning historian Lyn Macdonald brings to life the massive German offensive of Spring 1918 that became the Second Battle of Somme. As moving as it is monumental the volume recounts the devastating assault in the words of the men who survived it -- from the commanders to the war-weary British Tommies the eager German foot soldiers and the as-yet-untested doughboys fresh from the U.S. Unforgettably To the Last Man puts a human face on the armies in the field as it gives voice to the soldiers who together held their position against the foe-resisting as the Allied command had ordered "to the last round and the last man."