In April 1917, Allied guns pounded German positions near Arras with almost three million shells. During the early stages of the succeeding offensive, British and Canadian troops achieved unprecedented advances, capturing a huge swathe of enemy territory, including the famous Vimy Ridge. After the initial shock, however, the Germans quickly recovered to employ inspired battlefield tactics that crushed all hope of breakthrough, despite the injection of Australian military flair.The u...

Intended as a diversion from the Somme, Fromelles was was the worst-ever military disaster in Australian history, and is recognised as one of the bloodiest and most useless battles of the First World War. With the recent discovery of a mass grave and the disinterment of many diggers, it has now entered national consciousness in the same way as Gallipoli. In one night, British and Australian soldiers suffered casualties equivalent to the total toll of the Boer War, Korean War and Vietnam Wa...

The bookshelves of British literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors. From these Isles their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure. Among them is Thomas Street Millington.

The Detective has been a mainstay of fiction writing ever since we can remember.Their deductive powers, their intuition and fleet-footed grasp of every detail can often turn the unlikeliest situation, or bunch of red herrings, into a breakthrough to capture even the most ingenious and dastardly of criminals.In this series our classic authors explore not only various themes, such as Occult Detectives, Female Detectives, Curious Crimes and a whole host more, but also bring a ...

Brave Battalion presents the story of four Canadian Highland regiments that were banded together as the 16th Battalion. Ninety years after the end of WWI, this work honours those soldiers and makes their stories a vivid reality. Focusing on the Canadian Scottish (Princess Mary’s) Battalion, Mark Zuehlke presents the harrowing experiences that bonded the men and which came to represent the uniting and rising of a nation beginning to realize its potential.Complemented by map...

This is an account of the British Expeditionary Forces battles in the summer and autumn of 1917. It begins with the Allied plan to free up the Flanders coast, to limit German naval and submarine attacks on British shipping.The opening offensive began with the detonation of nineteen mines on 7 June and ended with the capture of the Messines Ridge. The main offensive started with success on 31 July but was soon bogged down due to the August rains. Three huge attacks between 20 September and ...

At the outset of 1918 Germany faced certain defeat as a result of Allied technical innovation in tanks and aircraft, and the American entry into the war. Victory could only be gained by the immediate application of overwhelming force in new tactical form; the 'fire-waltz' artillery barrage and the storm-trooper infantry attack.1918 examines both the Germans' tactics and the Allies' preferred solution to fighting this war, the combination of artillery, tanks, infantry and a...

At 11.00 hours on 11 November 1918, the guns fell silent across the battlefields of Europe. After the deadliest conflict the world had ever seen, peace had finally arrived. Since the withdrawal from the Somme and the repulse at Verdun, the Germans knew they could not win the war and had sought a negotiated end to the fighting. This was rejected by the Allies and the fighting continued until, almost two years later, with its economy on the verge of collapse, Germany had no choice but to acc...

Ypres was a medieval town known for its textiles; however, it became infamous during the Great War with trench warfare, poison gas and many thousands of casualties. As the German Army advanced through Belgium, it failed to take the Ypres Salient. On 13 October 1914, German troops entered Ypres. On looting the city, the Germans retreated as the British Expeditionary Force advanced. On 22 November 1914, the Germans commenced a huge artillery barrage killing many civilians. I...

Named one of the Ten Best Books of 2013 by The Economist World War I altered the landscape of the modern world in every conceivable arena. Millions died; empires collapsed; new ideologies and political movements arose; poison gas, warplanes, tanks, submarines, and other technologies appeared. "Total war" emerged as a grim, mature reality. In The Great War, Peter Hart provides a masterful combat history of this global conflict. Focusing on the decisive engagements, Hart ex...

The story of the huge mobile battles of 1918, which finally ended the Great War.1918 was the critical year of battle as the Great War reached its brutal climax. Warfare of an epic scale was fought on the Western Front, where ordinary British soldiers faced the final test of their training, tactics and determination. That they withstood the storm and began an astonishing counterattack, is proof that by 1918, the British army was the most effective fighting force in ...

One of the bloodiest battles in world history—a military tragedy that would come to define a generation.On July 1, 1916, the British Army launched the “Big Push” that was supposed to bring an end to the horrific stalemate on the Western Front between British, French, and German forces. What resulted was one of the greatest single human catastrophes in twentieth century warfare. Scrambling out of trenches in the face of German machine guns and artillery fire, the Al...