Mechanized Death: The History and Legacy of the First Machine Guns Used in War

Soon after dawn on July 1, 1916, British and Commonwealth troops climbed out of damp, muddy trenches in the Somme valley and began to advance across no-man's land towards German positions. This was the biggest Anglo-French attack of the First World War to date, and British commanders were confident that their troops would quickly push the Germans back out of France and perhaps even begin a drive into Germany itself. The tactics they used in planning this battle had changed little since the...