Pen & Sword have produced a whole series of guidebooks covering locations on all major Great War battlefields. My own contributions to the series include a definitive guide to Thiepval, including detailed maps and photographs of locations such as the Ulster Tower, the Memorial to the Missing, Schwaben Redoubt, Authuille and Blighty Valley. As with all other books in the series there are walks and tours which will familiarise you with every aspect of Thiepval's fascinating story.

Another important guide in this series is that covering the front line villages of La Boisselle and Ovillers, astride the Albert-Bapaume road, and the hamlet of Contalmaison which stood to the rear in the Main German Second Position. As with Thiepval this book centres on the events of 1st July 1916 before considering how events progressed during the subsequent fighting in those areas through to the 12th July.

I have also written guides to aid understanding of the Fricourt - Mametz area as well as the vicinity of Guillemont. The latter book includes Trones Wood and covers a prolonged period of heavy fighting throughout July, August and September of 1916.

The latest book in the series is entitled "Advance to Victory" and deals with events during the autumn of 1918 as the British Army, north of the Somme, began their ultimately successful drive to push German troops east towards the Canal du Nord. It will be followed soon, in late 2001/early 2002, by another 1918 volume dealing with a wider area - that subjected to the first stage of the German Army's spring offensive often referred as the Michael Offensive.

These guidebooks are complete with many "then & now" photographs to make your understanding of events clear and relevant. Each book is designed to get you off the beaten track and into the evocative history which pervades every little known corner of these remarkable battlefields.