Includes index. 294pp, index, poems and prose of the combatants, small owner name sticker on inside cover o/w a clean, unmarked and tight copy.

"The Fierce Light" contains a selection of prose and poetry from 38 contemporary British, Australian and New Zealand writers who fought during the Battle of the Somme. Men from different backgrounds tell their terrible stories in powerful and vivid language. The extracts from their published works, depicting the horrendous bloodshed and destruction they experienced, are placed in chronological order between 1 July and 18 November 1916. Details of the action in which the writer was involved preface each extract.

310pp, maps, sb.Published Price £10.99 The Battle of the Somme holds a mythic status in British history as the defining battle of the Great War. The five months of fighting in 1916, tragically starting on July 1st when 60,000 men became casualties - 20,000 of them fatally - has left a permanant scar on the national consciousness. The battle gave rise to a huge body of prose and verse - from well-known writers such as Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves and Edmund Blunden - to ordinary soldiers seared into print by the intensity of their battle experiences. This sensitively edited and wide ranging anthology presents the battle writngs of 38 British, Australian and New Zealand combatants in powerful and vivid language, both poetry and prose. The writing, in chronological order, is accompanied by a factual account of the fighting which gave birth to each piece