It has been a century since the start of 'the war to end all wars'. All of the veterans are now gone and one would think that there would be naught left but memorials. However, this is not the case. Europe is still scarred from the English Channel to the Swiss border with the remnants of that conflict.

Such was the level of earth moving and displacement that such artifacts are not easy to erase. Even today, people are killed or injured by previously undiscovered munitions from this time, age making them often highly unstable. This is true of what's left of WW2 as well, though on a larger scale and more concentrated in Germany than France and Belgium.

Then there are the shell holes, and the huge craters left from mining, many of these now ponds or even small lakes. Finally, there are the trences and concrete works built around these areas. While many of them have been removed or filled in, some are still quite visible and others have even been restored as a monument, among many others, to this time and place.

Such is the reason for this book. In it, the author takes a look of the then and the now of some of the more famous battle areas. This includes the restored and unrestored vestiges of these events as well as the rather large number of cemeteries and monuments to these times.

The book is as much a photo book as it is a history, but one cannot really appreciate what is still around without knowing about what came before so each of the sections provides the historical context that is needed as well as what has been preserved.

There are several sections in the book starting with Belgium, the battles at Ypres, Flanders, Verdun, the Somme, the battles of the American Expeditionary Force and Cambrai. Photographs from then and now highlight each of the main entries and we get to see what the enthusiast can expect to see today at these various areas. The photography is nicely chosen and provides large images of the restored areas, those left as they were and the many monuments to the fallen.

It is a book that you will find both well written, beautifully photographed and interesting at the same time. A great look back at the major event that shaped the 20th century. Highly recommended.

December 2015

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Review book courtesy of  Casemate Publishing, where you can order your copy of this and many other superb books.

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