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Product Description
Product Description
The year of 1914 had been a difficult one for the British Expeditionary Force, the war that had started in August had not been over by the expected time of Christmas. Additionally many of its original members had become casualties and replacements were difficult to find. 1915 did not go much better, the BEF was still a minor player with only a relatively small number of divisions compared to the many in the French Army. The culmination of several attacks by the BEF in 1915 was the attack in the Loos sector in September where in a mining area north of Arras, the largest British offensive of the war thus far took place. Forced into an offensive in an area which as one senior commander put it was on 'most unfavourable ground', the BEF suffered heavy casualties and little material gain. Probably for these reasons the 1915 battles have been largely ignored and there has been a dearth of decent publications on Loos.Helion and Co Ltd are therefore pleased to announce the publication in paperback of a major new work "Most Unfavourable Ground: The Battle of Loos 1915" by Niall Cherry. "Most Unfavourable Ground" offers a detailed look at the planning, execution and aftermath of the fighting. As well as using official records and reports, numerous personal stories have been woven into the account. The author's grandfather was present at Loos as a Chemical Corporal with the Royal Engineers gas units and this major new work reflects the author's passion for the subject. It is already acknowledged as the most detailed and complete account of an oft-neglected and overlooked offensive launched by the British forces in 1915.
About the Author
Niall Cherry was born in London in 1959 and recalls becoming interested in military history as a schoolboy from watching films such as 'The Battle of Britain' and a 'Bridge Too Far'. He later found out that one of his grandfathers had fought in the Great War, serving as a Chemical Corporal at Loos. His father served in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during the early 1950s. He continued in the family tradition by serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps, qualifying as a Combat Medical Technician Class 1, an instructor in First Aid and Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Warfare. He finished his service as a senior NCO. Deeply interested in the Great War, he has visited numerous battlegrounds on both the Western Front and at Gallipoli. He is a long-standing member of the Western Front Association, the Gallipoli Association and the Military Heraldry Society. He also has the honour of being the first non-Arnhem veteran to hold the post of UK representative for the Society of Friends of the Airborne Museum in Oosterbeek, Holland. In 2000, Niall's first book was published, 'Red Berets and Red Crosses: The Story of the Medical Services in the 1st Airborne Division in World War II'. The following year, answering an appeal from the Manchester Regimen Museum, he wrote 'I Shall Not Find His Equal', a biography of Brigadier Noel Lee. In the last few years has also contributed articles to 'Battlefields Review' and 'After the Battle', together with helping with around 20 other books on the Airborne Forces and Gallipoli. Niall currently lives in Lancashire with his wife, two daughters, working for BAE Systems helping build fast military jets.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As most books on the First World War seem to be written about the battles in the latter part of the war- namely the Somme, Arras and Passchendaele, it was most refreshing to read a book written about an almost forgotten battle namely that of Loos in 1915. Put quite simply this is the best book I have ever read about the offensive in 1915 when we used poison gas for the first time. Loads of detail and personal accounts with around 100 photographs and maps it is a wonderful and clear concise account of a battle which had been in my mind difficult to understand. After reading Warner's book on Loos I had trouble working out what had happened, but Most Unfavourable Ground certainly clears up any misunderstandings.
If you are looking for an excellent book on the Great War get this one. A five star effort and worth a score of 11 out of 10.
If you are looking for an excellent book on the Great War get this one. A five star effort and worth a score of 11 out of 10.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Just about every source I have read indicates that Niall Cherry's book is the definitive work on the Battle of Loos. Indeed the book is very highly reviewed on this website. Perhaps my expectations were too high; while I don't regret the purchase I have been left with a vague feeling that it could easily have been much better...
I wouldn't describe this as "light reading", it deserves full credit though as an exhaustive and thoroughly researched work on yet another ghastly, but largely unknown, Great War battle. Initially I found the incredible detail rather daunting; as I progressed Mr Cherry's writing style rather grew on me. He has a deft touch.
It could have been much better and easily worthy of 4/5 stars but for some rather silly and easily overcome faults. Firstly, it's badly let down by (apparently) poor proof-reading. Loss Tables frequently appear in the text, however they're incorrectly inserted which rather destroys the reader's flow. For example, Table 3.1 on p72 appears a paragraph ABOVE the line "The casualties......were as follows:". Acceptable perhaps once, but not for every table!
My other disappointment concerned the maps; apart from one murkily reproduced trench map (p191), these are very simple line-drawings and, in my opinion, detract greatly from the book's value. As an example of what can be achieved in a small book, "Loos - Hill 70" (Battleground Europe series) is infinitely superior in this regard. Frustrated by this, I also found some rather excellent maps on the web.
I wouldn't describe this as "light reading", it deserves full credit though as an exhaustive and thoroughly researched work on yet another ghastly, but largely unknown, Great War battle. Initially I found the incredible detail rather daunting; as I progressed Mr Cherry's writing style rather grew on me. He has a deft touch.
It could have been much better and easily worthy of 4/5 stars but for some rather silly and easily overcome faults. Firstly, it's badly let down by (apparently) poor proof-reading. Loss Tables frequently appear in the text, however they're incorrectly inserted which rather destroys the reader's flow. For example, Table 3.1 on p72 appears a paragraph ABOVE the line "The casualties......were as follows:". Acceptable perhaps once, but not for every table!
My other disappointment concerned the maps; apart from one murkily reproduced trench map (p191), these are very simple line-drawings and, in my opinion, detract greatly from the book's value. As an example of what can be achieved in a small book, "Loos - Hill 70" (Battleground Europe series) is infinitely superior in this regard. Frustrated by this, I also found some rather excellent maps on the web.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
best book on loos
11 Feb 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
there has been of late several books published on the battle of loos, a long forgotten but crucial battle of the great war. i was strongly disappointed in nick lloyd's version of the battle, somewhat more impressed with gordon kerrigan's account, and of course philip warner's older story of the battle leaves much to be desired. the newer account by niall cherry far and away is the best of all of these. this is a comprehensive account of the complete battle filled with contemporary reminisces of the soldiers involved. this is a brilliantly done story. i advise all serious scholars of the battle and the war to pick up this account
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