by Christina Holstein.
Softcover (5.5×8.5 inches). 286 pages. 2025.
Subtitle: Battleground
There must be a couple hundred of these marvelous Battleground books. They generally follow the same format — first half history and second half combo touring the battlefield auto routes and more history. It’s pretty amazing what you can still find in terms of WWI monuments, cemeteries, and bunkers around Verdun (France).
One interesting tech circa March 1915 (p214): Earth Conduction. The French stuck an antenna into the ground to use electromagnetic induction to eavesdrop on German communications. The Germans later refined the tech into their Moritz sets.
The book does an excellent job of zeroing in on an individual or action, putting his actions in context of a larger skirmish or action, and pairing a photo to the text. You can often put a face to a name. And many times you’ll find a map or another, sometimes detailed, sometimes not, linked to that. Makes me want to join a Troy T or Bill Gray WWI game…
The book contains 219 black and white photos, 27 black and white maps (some with scales some maddeningly not), and one black and white illustration.
Best part: I never knew just how close the Germans came to pinching off Verdun. Truly, ’twas a tenacious defense.
Well done.
Enjoyed it.
–Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
