The Big Guns - Artillery 1914-1918 - Purnell's History of the World Wars Special

Spine faded, secondhand wear to cover extremities.

As the armies of 1914 became bogged down in the trenches they were to occupy for the next four years, the Generals turned increasingly to the artillery in an attempt to break the deadlock. The infantry charge, in the face of concerted rifle and machinegun fire, had become no more than mass suicide, and so vast quantities of shells were fired in the hope of destroying the enemy's defences. But the heavier the bombardment became, the more the ground was churned up, the deeper the trenches were dug, and the stalemate was only increased...