Major and Mrs. Front's Definitive Battlefield Guide to Western Front-North


Book Description

Following in their best-selling series of Battlefield Guides this is a companion volume to the Holts Western Front South Guide. Between the two, they cover the main WW1 Western Front battlefields. This book covers 15 of the most significant battles of the northern area from Nieuwport to just north of The Somme.Whether travelling on the ground or in the mind, the reader is carefully guided through the battlefields with a mixture of succinct military history, cameo memories and stories of VCs and other personalities, interspersed with references to the literature and poetry of the war.This guidebook is based on Tonie and Valmai Holt's 30 years experience of researching, guiding tours and writing about the area, with their unique blend of male and female points of view. It is written to the high standards that have come to be expected of these highly respected authors who are credited with pioneering the modern battlefield tour and whose guide books are referred to as 'The Bibles' . This new edition contains: Brief Historical Background and Summary of each battle, Opening Moves and What Happened, with appropriate quotations Sketch Map for each battle showing battle lines, routes etc and all points of interest described on each timed itinerary Large Sketch Map putting the battlefields (north and south) into perspective Memorials, Museums, Sites of Interest (bunkers, craters etc) War Grave Cemeteries Allied and German GPS Location for every recommended stop War Graves and Commemorative Associations Cameos about individual personalities Useful Tourist Information Where to stay and eat




Gallipoli: Battlefield Guide


Book Description

This illustrated guide includes a historical overview of the battle, maps, itineraries, and updated information on memorials, museums, and more. The Battle of Gallipoli was one of the most bitterly fought conflicts of the Great War, and a profound and tragic loss for Entente powers of Britain, France, and Russia. This guidebook to the battlefields and historic sites of Gallipoli is an invaluable asset for any visitor who hopes to get the most out of their trip. Along with complete and updated information on museums, memorials, and war cemeteries, Major and Mrs. Holt provide essential historical overviews and practical itineraries covering all of the battleground sites. FULLY UPDATED




Somme 100th Anniversary


Book Description

The 100th Anniversary of the most publically aware battle of WW1 - the battle of the Somme, will be on 1 July 2016 and every media form will be covering it from January onwards. The book has taken 20 years to mature from its first edition to this new 'Definitive' edition, the Seventh, each time being updated and expanded. It is a legacy that should be on every bookshelf.The book is based upon over 30 years of traveling and writing about battlefields by two people - Major and Mrs Holt - who are credited with having started the modern era of battlefield tours - and were awarded the Somme Centenary Medal for their work in 'opening the doors to the battlefields' with their books.This Guide Book is MORE than a guide book - Sir Martin Gilbert said, ' the Holts have raised the Guide Book to a new high level,' and ' the golden thread that runs through it (the previous Somme Guide) - is the focus that the Holts give to the stories of individuals'. It will therefore appeal both to General and to Specialist readers whether they travel to the battlefields or not.This is not merely a guide book, nor a history book, but it is brimming with human interest stories of veterans' experiences, tales of bravery, comradeship, natural terror, literary illusions to poets who experienced the battles (such a Owen & Sassoon, Seeger and Sorley) ...If you buy just one book about the Battle of the Somme, this is the one that you should have, written by those who know the area and the battlefield better even than the French themselves, and who tell its story from both humanistic and military standpoints




Major & Mrs HoltÍs Battlefield Guide to Ypres Salient and Passchendaele


Book Description

This is the most complete guide to the First World War Battlefield of Ypres that has ever been published. Tonie and Valmai Holt, have condensed the knowledge gained from almost a quarter of a century of researching, writing about, visiting and conducting groups around Ypres into this remarkable book. Here are concise descriptions of the military elements of the battles woven into a kaleidoscope of human, literary and travel information. There are recommended, timed itineraries, in each itinerary representing one day's travelling. Every stop on the routes has an accompanying description and often a tale of heroic or tragic action.Memorials large and small, private and official, sites of memorable conflict, the resting places of personalities of note - they are all here and joined together by a sympathetic and understanding commentary that gives the reader a sensitivity toward the events of 1914-1918 that can only be matched by visiting the battlefield itself. This is a guide book written by people who, because they have been directly involved in taking tours themselves, know the form and type of information that best serves the visitor to the battlefield. NEW, FULLY UPDATED EDITION PACKAGED WITH A FREE, FULL COLOUR FOLD-OUT MAP WORTH '3.99




Major and Mrs Holt's Battlefield Guide to Operation Market Garden


Book Description

Like the other books in the Holts' acclaimed Battlefield Guide Series (see inside front cover for details) this is much more than just a guidebook. It charts in fascinating detail what happened at each recommended stop and brings alive, with cameos and personal recollections, the dramatic events of September 1944.??It is the very first detailed guide to chart the entire MARKET-GARDEN Corridor - from Leopoldsburg in Belgium and over the important bridges at the Scheldt-Maas Canal, the Wilhelmina Canal, the Zuid Willemsvaart Canal, the Maas and the Waal to the Bridge at Arnhem over the Lower Rhine - the 'Bridge Too Far'.??There are stories of gallantry, despair, humour, fear and dogged persistence??- here was a hidden execution ground and cemetery in Belgium?- here Pfc Joe Mann threw himself onto a grenade to save his buddies?- here the 504th PIR made the daring crossing over the Waal?- here was Diogenes, the Germans' menacing secret bunker?- here twin brothers of the British Airborne were killed together?- here Colonel Johnny Frost clung on for 4 desperate days??This third edition includes:??• An UPDATE Section with GPS locations, new/changed Memorials, Museums and Tourist Information?• An Approach Route and five recommended timed Itineraries?• Sketch maps in all the Itineraries?• Memorials to the liberating Allies and the suffering Civilians?• Museums, sites of DZs and LZs?• Allied and German Cemeteries and Information on their War Graves Associations?• Historical background to and summary of the Operation?• Holland after the battles to the present day?• Information on Veterans' and Commemorative Associations and Events?• Useful tourist information?• Full colour illustrations throughout




Stand To!


Book Description




Major & Mrs. Holt's Battlefield Guide to the Western Front, North


Book Description

The Seventh ship to bear the name, the Assault Ship and Commando Carrier HMS Fearless was first commissioned in 1965. Over the next 37 years she was seldom far from the actions in which British forces were engaged worldwide, be they in Aden, Malaysia and Borneo, Northern Ireland, the Cold War (Norway), South Rhodesia, Falklands, the Gulf, Afghanistan and so on. Thousands of sailors, Royal Marines and soldiers served on board over her 19 commissions. Now paid off, Fearless has a great story to tell and the Author, a former senior Royal Marine who knows her well, is superbly qualified to tell it.







Walking Verdun


Book Description

On 21 February 1916 the German Fifth Army launched a devastating offensive against French forces at Verdun and set in motion one of the most harrowing and prolonged battles of the Great War. By the time the struggle finished ten months later, over 650,000 men had been killed or wounded or were missing, and the terrible memory of the battle had been etched into the histories of France and Germany. This epic trial of military and national strength cannot be properly understood without visiting, and walking, the battlefield, and this is the purpose of Christina Holstein's invaluable guide. In a series of walks she takes the reader to all the key points on the battlefield, many of which have attained almost legendary status - the spot where Colonel Driant was killed, the forts of Douaumont, Vaux and Souville, the Mort Homme ridge, and Verdun itself.REVIEWS A new guide book from one of the most knowledgeable Western Front historians and guides. A New work by long-time battlefield guide and WFA member who also wrote an earlier Pen & Sword book on Ft. Douaumont.e: WWI Historical Association




Major & Mrs Holt's Concise Illustrated Battlefield Guide to the Western Front, South


Book Description

First Battle of the Marne; The Aisne 1914; Verdun; The Somme 1916; Chemin des Dames 1917-1918; Cambrai; The Kaiser's Offensive; Second Battle of the Marne (The Ourcq, Chateau Thierry, Belleau Wood); St Mihiel: Champagne 1918; The Meuse-Argonne and Breaking the Hindenberg Line. Major and Mrs. Holt's Concise Illustrated Battlefield Guide to the Western Front - South contains many fascinating but little-visited areas by travelers and is hoped that they will be tempted further afield than the 'showcase' and sophisticatedly presented battlefields like the Somme to discover some marvelous sites. Many of them have lain virtually 'dormant' for many years (such as areas of the Meuse-Argonne and Champagne) but have recently been renovated and opened up by dedicated local enthusiasts. There are many 'gems' in store in this book. Each battlefield starts with some pertinent quotations by participants, has a succinct Summary of the Battle, Opening Moves and What Happened sections then a Battlefield Tour which follows the same tried and tested formula as the rest of the series of a timed and measured itinerary with historic and anecdotal information at each stop. A detailed Sketch Map showing battle lines and each stop on the route accompanies every battle using the same color code (of yellow for memorials, purple for cemeteries, blue for museums) as the larger Holts' Battle Maps. Together the two books Major and Mrs. Holt's Concise, Illustrated Concise Illustrated Battlefield Guide to the Western Front - South and North will form the most comprehensive and detailed English-language guides to the World War I Western Front ever produced.