To mark the centenary of the battle of Mametz wood in the First World War, a North Wales author has published a new novel about the massacre.

Mametz is a powerful novel following the story of three Welsh soldiers – Huw, Cledwyn and Ephraim – and their path from Wales to the battle field in France.

Mametz by Alun Cob is Book of the Month with the Welsh Books Council and National Museum Wales for July 2016.

In July 1916 around four thousand soldiers from the 38th (Welsh) Division were killed or injured in the successful attempt to capture Mametz Wood from the German military. The Battle of Mametz Wood began on 7 July 1916. The wood was intended - by the generals, at least - to be taken in a matter of hours. In the event the battle lasted for five days as the Germans fiercely resisted the assaults of the Welsh Division. Mametz was part of the Somme massacre and was one of the First World War’s biggest battles.

Alun Cob says “This is a novel about the ordinary Welsh lads who went to the Great War and their lives leading up to the massacre at Mametz. The lads’ background and story are important – it’s not just a book about war.”

Mametz is the fifth Welsh-language novel by Alun Cob from Garndolbenmaen, Gwynedd, and is published by Gomer Press. “This is a timely, harrowing novel, full of humanity. It’s one hell of a story!” says the editor Elinor Wyn Reynolds from Gomer Press.

Mametz is now available from your local bookshop or directly from the publisher Gomer Press for £7.99.  To read a snippet from the novel log on to www.gomer.co.uk

Bibliographic details

Mametz by Alun Cob

Publisher: Gomer Press

paperback, 190 pages

ISBN 9781785620072

£7.99