We have taken the opportunity with our 2021 editions of the OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR – FRANCE AND BELGIUM series to redesign the covers and print on 140g silk paper. This official history was the grandest ever produced in Britain, and its purpose was to provide “within reasonable compass an authoritative account, suitable for general readers and for students at military schools”. Due to the number of full-colour maps bound in each volume, previous attempts to reprint this valuable reference either floundered, or were produced with the maps in monochrome. At last, the acclaimed work of the official cartographers who had 90,000 maps at their command can be examined as they intended – in full colour.
France and Belgium 1916. Vol I. Appendices. OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR.
Twenty-six appendices of documents concerning Allied plans for 1916; plan and preparations for the Somme offensive, including tactical instructions; orders for the brilliant raid carried out by 5th and 7th Canadian Infantry Battalions on La Petite Douve Farm in November 1915; and examples of corps, divisional and brigade operation orders as well as instructions for artillery fire support.