The portents were not good. I do not receive too many books to review, and when I do it is with great excitement. I unwrap the book carefully, touch it, feel it, prepare to savour it. Then I read the press release or other blurb that comes with it. On this occasion, first impressions of the book were reduced to nought as I scanned through the words of the Weidenfeld & Nicolson PR Department...

Inevitably, the blurb begins on 1 July 1916: "...60,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers were killed that day alone". Weidenfeld & Nicolson...no they were not! Weidenfeld & Nicolson...there were no Commonwealth troops in action on the Somme that day!

It carries on, summing up the battle: "...leaving the battlefield strewn with the bodies of over a million men". Weidenfeld & Nicolson...no there were not! Weidenfeld & Nicolson...why don't you read Peter's book and sack your blurb writer!

I don't know Weidenfeld & Nicolson's PR staff. I am sure they are nice enough young men and women. But this is just rubbish, and it did not set me up well to carry on. But I do know Peter Hart. He's a sensible enough chap. Very entertaining speaker. Has written some good books in the past. Is in a privileged position of access to the records held at the Imperial War Museum. Let's see.

This is a pretty mighty work, and by any standards a well produced hardback volume at over 500 pages including black and white photos and maps in profusion is extraordinarily good value at £20 list price.

Peter has taken on a considerable job: telling the story of the entire 1916 battle on the Somme in a single volume, sweeping across the air war, the artillery war, the relentless infantry attack and counter attack. I am glad to say that he does it with pace, balance and as far as I can see without any significant error of fact. He is helped by the prolific use of extracts from the verbal and written records of men who were there. He is, after all, the IWM's oral historian, so perhaps this is to be expected. The words of the soldiers are telling. Many of their names will be familiar to regular readers of modern WW1 histories, for their testimonies are often quoted. Let's choose a few at random...Basil Farrer, Frank Crozier, Cecil Lewis, Douglas Jerrold, George Ashurst. Hardly the first time we have seen their words in print. But to offset that there are many others less well known and quite possibly in print for the first time.

For the reader new to the Somme, this volume will be a great overall introduction. The facts are there, the story clear and tragic. It is perhaps less likely to appeal to the specialist. Other than the personal quotes, there will be little new in the re-telling. But even then it is worth reading and at the price you can't beat it.

I have a few nits to pick.

The selection of photos - beautifully produced, I must say, is disappointing. There are thousands of them in the IWM archive. Why, oh why, do we keep seeing the same ones?

The order of battle is useful - but it only lists the infantry, in a battle where the artillery, engineers, medics and transport played key roles.

The German and French parts of this battle - rather important - take a distinctly back seat to a very British view.

On the other hand, plaudits for the avoidance of focus on the first hours of the first day, excellent maps and good index.

No question for me. Buy it. And then thank God you do not have to read the press release.