Max Arthur is rightly seen as one of Britain's leading oral historians of the Great War, collecting first-hand accounts of survivors from Britain's armed services, and allowing their stories to be told to a wider audience. He has enjoyed great success with previous books Forgotten Voices of the Great War, and his most recent book Lost Voices of the Edwardians. He has now delved into the superb photographic archives of the Imperial War Museum and other collections throughout Europe and unearthed remarkable, never before seen images, that when married with his contemporary eyewitness accounts, truly give the reader a unique view of the horror that was World War I. Ian Hislop is the editor of political satirical magazine Private Eye, and long-time panellist on the well known television programme Have I Got News For You. He has recently presented the acclaimed series on Channel 4, Not Forgotten, tracing the myriad stories of those who survived, and were killed, in the Great War 1914-18.

Acknowledgements; Author's Preface; Foreword by Ian Hislop; 1914: Mons, 1st Marne, 1st Ypres, Christmas Truce Europe tumbles into war. Austria and Germany declare war on Russia and France. German troops march into Belgium. Britain declares war on Germany. Britain mobilises the reserves. General Joffre approaches Paris. Germany's advance comes towards Dunkirk halted in Belgium at Ypres; 1915: Neuve Chapelle, 2nd Ypres, Loos Home Front gears up for war. Allied offensive in Artois and Champagne. Casualty lists lengthen. Poison gas enters the war at Ypres. The french attack from Vimy Ridge to Arras. General Haig takes command of the British Expeditionary Force; 1916: Verdun, Somme, Thiepval The British Army goes over the top. Another endless year in the trenches. British fail to take the Somme. Casualty lists shock the Home Front. Maxim machine gunes hold the German line. The British attack between Combles and the Ancre Valley; 1917: 1st Arras, 3rd Ypres, Passchendaele, Cambrai Germany defends East and West Fronts. The Hindenberg Line defends the trenches. The Canadians capture Vimy Ridge. Britain attacks the Messines Ridge. Weather forces "bite and hold tactics". Germany faces defeat; 1918: German Breakthrough, Cantigny, Amiens, 2nd Arras Germany focuses on the Western Front and achieves the greatest advance since 1914. Villers-Bretonneux falls, and is retaken. Tanks fight tanks for the first time. German advances cause crisis for the Allies. Foch blocks an attack on Paris. America joins the war. Germany requests armistice; Index of contributors; General index.