Tommy: The British Soldier on the Western Front 1914–1918 by Richard Holmes

The ordinary soldiers behind an extraordinary war

Good Condition – noticeable cover, corner and edge wear with page-edge tanning.

Richard Holmes reconstructs the lived experience of the British soldiers who fought on the Western Front during the First World War. Drawing on letters, diaries and personal testimony, he follows the men through battle, rest and the routines that filled the spaces between. The result is an intimate social history of a vast citizen army, revealing not only danger and loss but also friendship, food, faith, humour, discipline and home leave. Rich in human detail, Tommy moves beyond statistics and strategy to show how millions of ordinary servicemen endured an extraordinary collective ordeal.