Official Review: Forgotten Trails of the Western Front

[anomalocaris]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Forgotten Trails of the Western Front" by Iain D Cameron.]

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A certain measure of difficulty is always to be expected in reviewing a travel guide without the benefit of walking the paths it describes, but I will endeavor to provide as fair a review as is feasible under the circumstances.

To begin with, I should note that, while the title of the book, Forgotten Trails of the Western Front, by I. D. Cameron, would seem to indicate an actual travel guide, the author clearly states in its introduction that it is not intended as a travel guide, but rather as a “companion” guide for the benefit of travelers exploring locations along World War One’s historic Western Front.

As such, this book suffers a little from being “neither fish nor fowl.” It is, in many ways, more a history than a travel guide but it cannot, nor is it intended to, stand on its own as a history. As a travel guide, it fares a little better, but a good travel guide would have as much or more historical information, and reliable navigation information besides. This raises the question of the practicality of this volume. Weight and space being of the essence when traveling, carrying both a travel guide and companion volume might prove impractical when a good travel guide would encompass both functions in a single volume. For a traveler already reasonably familiar with the territory and its history, this book does, however, provide sufficient information to supplement the on-site interpretive material a visitor is likely to encounter and, more importantly, directs visitors' attention to points of interest where signage is minimal or absent.

The author clearly has a passion for his material, and does a fine job of resurrecting for the reader the conditions under which combatants of both sides labored on the battlefields of World War I. He maintains throughout a balanced historical approach, treating the dead of both sides with equal respect and, when necessary, acknowledging areas of historical speculation that remain controversial.

His style is fluent and easily accessible, albeit occasionally muddled by his fondness for semicolon splicing — a habit which I found to be a considerable distraction as I read. Semicolons notwithstanding, the author has taken care to avoid the rampant misspellings and grammatical errors that characterize most self-published volumes.

The book includes a good bit of archival material, which enhances the reader’s experience, but the author fails to properly cite his sources, an issue which should be addressed, as a matter of both legality and courtesy.

Not being intimately familiar with the geography of the area covered in the book, I found myself becoming a little overwhelmed at times, and feeling as if the book lacked clear organization. Splitting longer chapters into several shorter ones, along with the inclusion of a few maps and illustrations, would go a long way toward giving the reader a clearer sense of the area, and the book a more structured feel. This would also allow the book to better serve its purpose as a companion guide, enabling travelers to more readily locate the sections relevant to their immediate locations.

While Forgotten Trails of the Western Front does have some room for improvement, the majority of my criticisms address minor cosmetic issues. Mr. Cameron's book is generally well researched and smoothly written, and undoubtedly less expensive than engaging Mr. Cameron's services as a tour guide for the summer holidays.

I give this book 3 out of 4 stars.

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