Kitchener’s Mob: The New Army To The Somme by Peter Doyle and Chris Foster
(The History Press 2016, ISBN 978 0 7509 6495 1, 221pp, fully illustrated, hardback, £25.00)
This is a large format book, and holding it and just flicking through before a proper read, one thing is quickly apparent – this is a quality publication. It really is a handsome, attractive book to hold and the images inside are stunning. Everything about it speaks quality and once you start to read the text this is confirmed even further. Peter Doyle and Chris Foster have already produced some fine works about the Great War and this is certainly one of their best so far. It looks at the men who joined Kitchener’s Army – Kitchener’s Mob – in 1914, their road to war and their training, the story of the Pals battalions and then their march to the Somme in 1916. Throughout there are well chosen contemporary illustrations and fantastic modern photographs of ephemera, uniforms and equipment. This is a real tour-de-force of what Kitchener’s Army was all about a century ago, and is not only a moving memorial to the men of the Somme, it is so finely crafted and presented, it really should be on the shelves of anyone with an interest in the Great War. Essential reading, absolutely essential reading.
Available from the History Press website.
Somme Battlefields 