Post by Nigel Bruce

My book Published today, 28th June, 2026! The Road of Hope and Sorrow: by bike along the Western Front of the Great War https://nigelbruce.co.uk/ In 2016, Nigel Bruce, passionate cycle tourist and enthusiastic student of history, cycled along the Western Front of the Great War, exploring the countless battlefields and poignant memorials, war museums, and the cities, towns and villages devastated by four years of industrial warfare. This was also a personal journey, with an author sensitive to loss immersing himself in the inescapable evidence of the destruction of young lives on an unimaginable scale. Family memoirs and correspondence of a French artillery officer bring authentic first-hand experiences, at turns tragic, terrifying and poetic. The many colour photos and drawings by the author convey the rich heritage available to today’s visitors, while archive images and the work of war artists, writers and poets provide insights from those directly involved. Detailed maps show Nigel’s route and sites of interest to orientate the reader and inform those planning their own trips. Documenting the evolution of his own reactions, Nigel recounts how cycling the Western Front brought its share of sorrow, not least through unsettling echoes in contemporary populist rhetoric. But this is also a story of hope, with many moving examples of remembrance for those on both sides of the conflict, and of reconciliation between former enemies. I recommend this extraordinary book wholeheartedly, not least because I travelled the same route, not by bike as Nigel Bruce did, but on foot. In 2021, in an effort to help establish the Western Front Way walk along the old front lines, I walked the 1000km route and explored many of the First World War sites. I similarly experienced how it feels to be immersed for weeks on end in the locations of so much suffering and loss, Nigel Bruce’s richly illustrated, informative and thoughtful book The Road of Hope and Sorrow: by bike alongthe Western Front of the Great War brings the war uniquely to life. It willbe enjoyed and treasured, not just by cyclists and walkers, but by all who arecaptivated by the enduringly fascinating war to end all wars. To find out more about my book and this Western Front discovery project, visit my website [link below] Sir Anthony Seldon Historian, educator and author of The Path of Peace; Walking the Western Front Way, Atlantic Books (2022) Nigel Bruce’s tremendous work is so many things: a comprehensive guidebook beautifully illustrated with his photographs and drawings, an enticement to follow in his wheel tracks along the Western Front and a tender tribute to the fallen of every nation. The scope is epic but the sentiment humane. Tom Heap Broadcaster and co-founder of ‘The Western Front Way’