The War Walk

Nigel Jones felt that a fresh look at the battlegrounds of the First World War was necessary. As a personal pilgimage to honour the memory of an uncle who was killed at Ypres aged 18 he walked the front line of that cataclysmic conflict, and his 400-mile journey along the trenches is a tribute to all the combatants of both sides. The War Walk is a moving book describing the journey, and it is written on several levels. It incisively retells the political and military story of the Western Front; it explores the reality of life and death in the trenches through the words of a number of veterans from both sides; and it gives a vivid picture of the Western Front as it is today. The battles of Loos, Ypres, the Somme and Passchendale are re-fought from first-hand accounts, uncovering all the artefacts of war - the trenches, the craters, the rusty shells and grenades, the boots and even the bones which are still to be found there. This new edition has a new Introduction by the author and it will appeal to all who have visited the Western Front, plan to do so or who wish to explore the terrain from the comfort of their armchairs.