Kindle Price: $7.60

Save $12.39 (62%)

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

To the Last Ridge: The World War One Experiences of W H Downing Kindle Edition

by W. H. Downing (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 57 ratings
See all formats and editions
This soldier’s WWI account of trench warfare is “a masterpiece among the chronicles of war” (The Australian).
 
Written just after the heat of the battle, this is the personal account of an ordinary soldier’s experience of one of the most horrific series of battles ever fought—Fleurbaix, Bapaume, Beaumetz, Lagnicourt, Bullecourt, the Menin Road, Villers-Bretonneux, Péronne, and Mont Saint-Quentin.
 
W. H. Downing, who was a law student in Melbourne before fighting on the Western Front and earning the Military Medal, describes not only the mud, the rats, the constant pounding of the guns, the deaths, and the futility, but also the humor and the heroism of one of the most compelling periods in world history. His writing is spare but vivid, and presents a graphic description of an ordinary person’s struggle to survive.
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    283 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Grub Street Publishing
  5. Publication date
    August 1, 2002
  6. File size
    1486 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
Next page
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00HQ253HU
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Grub Street Publishing (August 1, 2002)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 1, 2002
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1486 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 283 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 57 ratings

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
57 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars The great War!!!
Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2021
Verified Purchase
Rather difficult read,knowing the numbers that died in this war, the way they died!
So crudely directed by what appears to be such poor leadership of "upper crust" officers.
Where were the generations of accumulated lessons of previous wars by the British, French, etc??
It seems so senseless and the lives lost in a horrendous way! And what happened twenty years later??
L
Helpful
 Report
Jayfred
3.0 out of 5 stars It is worth reading.
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2016
Verified Purchase
He was an Australian soldier in World War 1. one-fifth of the book is an excellent description of the misery of living in a trench. one-fifth is a wonderful description of his experience in battle. three-fifths of the book meanders; and includes long passages about how the Australian soldiers loved using the bayonet. 206 pages in the paperback edition.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Bruce Wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars A Compelling Read
Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2015
Verified Purchase
W H Downing was a sergeant in the same Batallion as my grandfather. His story of life in the WW1 trenches helps me to understand a lot more of what my grandfather would have experienced. The brutality of war is clearly described in this book.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
graeme coppel
5.0 out of 5 stars Be there!
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2014
Verified Purchase
One great example of what it was like from someone who went through it. The 57th Btn went through all of the Western Front from 1916
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Soredogs
5.0 out of 5 stars A top history of war
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2012
Verified Purchase
This book has what it takes to be a good read. It follows closely the 15th brigade war diaries and adds the human aspect of one who actually fought
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
John E. Larsen
3.0 out of 5 stars With the 5th Australian Division on the Western Front
Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2010
Downing served with the 57th Battalion, 5th Australian Division and participated in most of the Western Front battles fought by the A.I.F. He leaves a very clear impression of what the war was like and there is certainly no doubt as to his involvement in the front line and exposure to the horrors there. He describes artillery bombardments frequently and several times notes the awful effect on men's eyeballs. The shelling was constant and deadly - one shell could snatch a dozen lives and in the big battles battalions alone could lose hundreds of men. Given the modern reaction to even single war deaths it is almost impossible to conceive the numbers he commonly mentions here. The actual fighting too is brutal: bombs, bayonets and no quarter are common themes. And all this is in a state of extreme fatigue, amidst the mud and the human detritus and filth from previous actions being continually regurgitated.

First published in 1920, this book seems to be held out as the outstanding example of the WW1 experience of an Australian soldier. `The Australian' calls it `a masterpiece among the chronicles of war' and it certainly has strengths in the area of realism but it has the notable downfall in that the author rarely uses the personal pronoun `I' almost always referring to events from the point of view of his company or battalion. Indeed it's often unclear as to whether he witnessed or participated in particular incidents. He never specifically writes about shooting his rifle and he fails to say anything about being awarded the Military Cross. There is nothing about training and others are only referred to by nickname. I found it hard to identify with the participants. He is slightly more forthcoming about highjinks out of the line but overall it was a bit too impersonal to really engage me.

At times Downing tends to be a little bit hyperbolic but generally his writing style is fine. His descriptions are quite vivid and he is particularly blunt about injuries. Downing certainly had the experiences but here he has written in a collective way rather than of his own deeds. So as a memoir I feel it falls short. Still, there is much of value regarding the Australian experience on the Western Front.
9 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
D. J. Crowe
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the finest war memoirs ever written
Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2009
This book details the experiences of the author (W.H. Downing) as an Australian infantryman on the Western Front in World War I. Downings writing style is easy to follow and draws the reader in. This book is by no means an authoritative, historical refernce of the great war, rather a compelling account of one particular soldiers experiences. Having read a few books regarding the great war I would personally rate this as one the finest WW1 memoirs I have read, equalled possibly by 'Somme Mud' by E. Lynch, another fantastic account of a soldiers experiences in the trenches.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Just another Digger.
5.0 out of 5 stars Dairy notes from someone who was there.
Reviewed in Australia on January 10, 2021
Verified Purchase
I've read Downings "To the Last Ridge" several times. As a Veteran myself I can say that it is without equal when it comes to first hand accounts of the horrors of combat. But Beyond anything most of us have seen, the nightmare of the Western Front is described in such detail that it can, if you take it in fully, make you weep for the wastage and destruction.

Only Soldiers know the real tragedy of war. Downings account of the Western Front is the account of a true soldier.
Report
peter almond
4.0 out of 5 stars The real birth of Australia as a nation.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 19, 2014
Verified Purchase
They came from the other side of the world, when the sons of the British Empire were needed most: 330,000 Australians, 'back' to a Europe few of them had ever seen. Today, the vicious and disastrous Gallipoli campaign of 1915,is marked today as ANZAC Day, the start of Australian national pride, but W.H. Downing's first person account of war on the Western Front shows that perhaps a battle near Amiens, France, in 1918 is the REAL ANZAC Day. His depiction of charging the German lines on the third ANZAC Day with an Aussie roar heard hundreds of yards away is perhaps the centre piece of this very readable, gritty - and even funny - book, and found in few if any Brititsh-based accounts of the war. This was a a decisive Australian victory, where the young men from Oz showed their true worth to the world - and themselves.
Report
Pete
4.0 out of 5 stars Lest we never forget.
Reviewed in Australia on December 23, 2014
Verified Purchase
While this is the experiences of one man, one cannot comprehend the scale of the numbers (distances marched; the living conditions, the number of bombs and bullets used; people killed and wounded; towns and families destroyed); the absolute assault on the senses; the despair and futility; the exhaustion; and the sheer length of time that the writer endured this hell, let alone what remained long after the events. A great read. I had just previously finished a book on Sir John Monash - it was interesting to read from a soldier's perspective the events and changes that Monash implemented and how they were interpreted at the front line.
One person found this helpful
 Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report