Salford was late in recruiting for its Pals battalions, with many of its men already joining Territorial units and a new Pals battalion in Manchester. Yet within a year it had raised four Pals battalions and a reserve battalion. Raised mainly from Lancashire's most notorious slums, the men trained together in Wales, North East England and on Salisbury Plain, they had great expectations of success. On the 1st of July 1916 the Somme offensive was launched and in the very epicentre of that cauldron the first three of Salford's battalions were thrown at the massive defences of Thiepval - the men were decimated, Salford was shattered. Michael Stedman records the impact of the war from the start on Salford and follows the difficulties and triumphs. Whether the actions small or great the author writes graphically about them all. Unusual photographs and a variety of sources make this both a readable and a scholarly account.

Guillemont Road and the nearby Trones Wood were among the British objectives of the great assault of July 1, 1916. The wood was captured within two weeks, but Guillemont, scarcely a half-mile away, was not reached until September. Michael Stedman tells the story of Guillemont in depth and provides a detailed guide for those who might want to actually visit the site, with a text backed up by numerous maps, sketches and photographs in the familiar Battleground Europe style.

The Guillemont Road cemetery contains 2,200 graves, and monuments to the 16th (Irish) Division and other large units are nearby, but Guillemont also provides many examples of personal tragedy. Raymond Asquith, eldest son of Britain's wartime prime minister, was killed here, as were the grandson of Charles Dickens and many other promising young men.

Not everyone died, of course, and the Guillemont battle has been particularly well-described from the German side by Ernst Junger, who wrote of his wartime experiences in Storm of Steel, survived the war despite being wounded 14 times, and was still alive and still writing books over 80 years later.

This addition to the growing series of battlefield guides has been written by Michael Stedman, author of Thiepval. Drawing upon the wealth of material available in both national and local archives, documentary evidence, personal reminiscence and British and German unit histories, La Boiselle will add enormously to the experience of any visitor to this extraordinary location on the Somme battlefield.This distinctive volume has ample detail to satisfy the discerning expert whilst retaining the accessible style which will ensure that anyone new to these magnificently informative places will feel at home with the text. Apart from the historical detail, La Boiselle is illuminated by a distinctive and detailed array of maps and aerial photographs which will guide the reader both at home and in the field. To support the maps a sequence of contemporary and comparison present-day photographs will enable students to plan and execute a series of enjoyable, informative and evocative tours through the locality.These walks will guide people to little-known sections of still existent front-line and assembly trenches, dug-outs, gun-pits and observation posts, past the memorials and cemeteries, with an eye for detail as well as to the human and personal experience of the conflict. If you are researching the story of a family member who served or is commemorated here, if you wish to deepen and illuminate a visit to a new Western Front location, if you are a student of the battlefield and the military tactics employed here, La Boiselle will add enormously to your knowledge and understanding of this powerful place. In an unsentimental manner, La Boiselle can transport you back across eight decades to understand something of the experience of the Tommies and their German counterparts who fought and died here during the Great War.