After an immense but useless bombardment, at 7.30 am. On 1 July 1916 the British Army went over the top and attacked the German trenches. It was the first day of the battle of the Somme, and on that day the British suffered nearly 60,000 casualties, two for every yard of their front. With more than fifty times the daily losses at El Alamein and fifteen times the British casualties on D-day, 1 July 1916 was the blackest day in the history of the British Army. But, more than that, as Lloyd George recognised, it was a watershed in the history of the First World War. The Army that attacked on that day was the volunteer Army that had answered Kitchener's call. It had gone into action confident of a decisive victory. But by sunset on the first day on the Somme, no one could any longer think of a war that might be won. Martin Middlebrook's research has covered not just official and regimental histories and tours of the battlefields, but interviews with hundreds of survivors, both British and German. As to the action itself, he conveys the overall strategic view and the terrifying reality that it was for front-line soldiers.

How would you react to the sudden realization of where death might actually lead? At fifty-nine, George Harvey, a retired teacher, makes just this discoveryand his life changes in ways he could never have imagined. George finds himself propelled on a headlong journey to another world, where he searches for the truth. Though they are strangers at first, George joins forces with a single mother and two young men, each seeking their own truth. With no easy answers, George, Luba, Philip, and Alyosha experience what seems impossible. Now they must decide if what they have learned is not just realbut inevitable. Each answer inspires more questions, and these four apparent survivors of death must now decide for themselves: When does life really end? Can broken lives ever be reconnected and restored? How dangerous are our beliefs and our faith? Are we destined to be put on trial at some time and place in the cosmos? Can our darkest fears ever be overcome or our most cherished dreams realized? Is there only one path after death? What does time really mean? Their search for truth challenges everything they once believed about life, deathand what may follow.

For good reason, the second and third days of the Battle of Gettysburg have received the lion's share of attention from historians. With this book, however, the critical first day's fighting finally receives its due. After sketching the background of the Gettysburg campaign and recounting the events immediately preceding the battle, Harry Pfanz offers a detailed tactical description of events of the first day. He describes the engagements in McPherson Woods, at the Railroad Cuts, on Oak Ridge, on Seminary Ridge, and at Blocher's Knoll, as well as the retreat of Union forces through Gettysburg and the Federal rally on Cemetery Hill. Throughout, he draws on deep research in published and archival sources to challenge many long-held assumptions about the battle.

After a summer of playing with his puppy, Michael is sad to learn that she cannot stay with him on the first day of school.