Description: The First World War produced a type of battlefield, a form of conflict and ferocity of fire-power that had not been previously experienced: trench warfare. Troops on both sides endured the hardships and deprivations of life in these trenches, cowering from shellfire, repelling repeated attacks or preparing to ‘go over the top’ and engage the enemy across a wasteland of mud and acres of barbed wire. Millions were killed or wounded. The work of contemporary illustrators provides the clearest and most dramatic impressions of this conflict. These professional illustrators complemented their artistic skills and experience with unusually accurate detail in their portrayal of uniforms, weapons and ammunition, and in so doing they created a compelling realism. To support his authoritative and informative commentary, Dr Laffin has drawn on the best of his comprehensive collection of the work of these illustrators to provide the reader with a vivid sense of the terror wrought by new weapons such as the tank, the horror of gas attacks, the desolation and tensions of No-Man's Land and all the daily torments of life in the trenches.