1st July 1916: the worst day in the history of the British Army. But for the French a tremendous victory. Why were the French so successful? And why was the British attack a costly shambles?
‘The Long Road to the Somme’ seeks to answer these questions.
Volume I: Episodes 1871-1915 examines pre-war and war-time influences from the Franco-Prussian War to the Battle of Loos.
Volume II: Planning the Big Push looks at each army’s planning for the Somme and the impact of Verdun and other 1916 offensives.
Bill MacCormick
Music – Politics – History
In the 70s I was, somehow, a bass player. In the 80s and 90s, a political organiser, local councillor, and pollster. Since then, I’ve written six books about the Great War. And now one about my time in the music biz: Making it up as you go along.
Just to confuse you, the music book is written by me – Bill MacCormick. And the history books by Alan MacDonald… who is also me, but using my middle names. Make sense? You can buy signed copies of the books by following the links to the left.
UPDATE: 2025 is the 50th Anniversary of the release of the Quiet Sun album ‘Mainstream’. With all four members of the band still extant and apparently compos mentis, we plan to celebrate with a new, extended album including brand spanking new tracks. Work has started. Watch this space.
Making it up as you go along
My meander through the outer realms of 1960s and 70s rock music. From the school band with guitar legend Phil Manzanera, to work with Robert Wyatt, Matching Mole, Quiet Sun, the 801, and Random Hold. With politics, some football history, film stars Julie Christie and Warren Beatty, and the odd embarrassing moment thrown in.
476 pages, 112 photographs. £19.99 + P&P
newly published
The first week of the Great War
August 1914. Lagarde – a tiny village in German-held Lorraine. Scene of a vicious action in the chaotic opening days of the war which caused consternation and argument in France, and overblown rejoicing in Germany.
The Affair at Lagarde details the fighting around this remote village and its military and political repercussions.
276 pages, 65 photographs, five maps. £15.99 + P&P
My previous books about the Great War
Z Day: The Attack of the VIII Corps at Beaumont Hamel and Serre
The 1st July 1916 was a day of loss unparalleled in the Britain’s history: 19,000 dead, another 38,000 wounded.
Despite the terrible losses, every Army Corps gained some German territory, however small and whatever the cost in blood. Except one: VIII Corps.
Bravery, sacrifice, chaos, stupidity, incompetence – all featured in the attack of the VIII Corps. ‘Z Day’ endeavours to untangle the many myths associated with this attack, and holds to account those whose decisions led to the loss of over 14,000 men in just a few hours.
Pro Patria Mori: The 56th (1st London) Division at Gommecourt
On Saturday, 1st July 1916, the men of the 56th (1st London) Division, went ‘over the top’ to storm Gommecourt – a village recognised as the strongest position in the German lines. ‘Pro Patria Mori’ recounts the experiences of the London men who fought and died at Gommecourt. Using the personal recollections of those involved, many previously unpublished, the book is a day by day account of the planning and preparation of the attack.
716 pages, fully indexed, with over 200 photographs and 20 maps and plans.
A Lack of Offensive Spirit?: The 46th (North Midland) Division at Gommecourt
The 46th (North Midland) Division’s attack at Gommecourt on 1st July 1916 is one of the more controversial incidents of the war. The men were accused of cowardice (“A lack of offensive spirit”), and of being drunk. Maj. Gen. Stuart Wortley, was the only General sacked as a result of the catastrophe. The book tells the story of the 46th Division through the tragedy of the Hohenzollern Redoubt to the outcome of the attack on Gommecourt.
708 pages, fully indexed, with over 20 maps and plans and 45 photographs.
New Labour’s neo-liberal economics won’t cut it
Back in the days of youth and irresponsibility (the early 70s for me) a group of us would meet up most Fridays and Saturdays for a drink (not many, we couldn’t afford them. An increasingly warm lager and lime for me) and a chat. One of this group was a lady called...
The perils of populism. Farage/Reform as a clear and present danger
Well, we all had a good laugh, didn’t we? Farage’s ‘Our contract with you’ – a hoot, a joke, figures plucked from the air, nothing adding up, £50 billion plus £50 billion makes £150 billion, enormous tax cuts, huge spending cuts, smaller government but bigger prisons,...
“Men… go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one.”
Since discovering my family’s involvement in the Great War, I have researched and written about war for something like twenty years now. Sometimes I write about a regiment moving there, or a soldier dying there, a trench lost, a battle won. I always endeavour to...