A WWI historian and Verdun battleground guide shares her knowledge and expertise in this series ten of walking tours. On February 21st, 1916, the German Fifth Army launched a devastating offensive against French forces at Verdun and set in motion one of the most harrowing and prolonged battles of the Great War. By the time the struggle finished ten months later, over 650,000 men were left killed, wounded, or were missing. The terrible memory of the battle had been etched into the histories of France and Germany, as well as the ground on which it happened. This epic trial of military and national strength cannot be properly understood without visiting, and walking, the battlefield, and this is the purpose of Christina Holstein's invaluable guide. In a series of walks she takes the reader to all the key points on the battlefield, many of which have attained almost legendary status—from the spot where Colonel Driant was killed to the forts of Douaumont, Vaux and Souville, the Mort Homme ridge, and Verdun itself.

On 21 February 1916 the German Fifth Army launched a devastating offensive against French forces at Verdun and set in motion one of the most harrowing and prolonged battles of the Great War. By the time the struggle finished ten months later, over 650,000 men had been killed or wounded or were missing, and the terrible memory of the battle had been etched into the histories of France and Germany. This epic trial of military and national strength cannot be properly understood without visiting, and walking, the battlefield, and this is the purpose of Christina Holstein's invaluable guide. In a series of walks she takes the reader to all the key points on the battlefield, many of which have attained almost legendary status - the spot where Colonel Driant was killed, the forts of Douaumont, Vaux and Souville, the Mort Homme ridge, and Verdun itself.REVIEWS A new guide book from one of the most knowledgeable Western Front historians and guides. A New work by long-time battlefield guide and WFA member who also wrote an earlier Pen & Sword book on Ft. Douaumont.e: WWI Historical Association

A visit to the battlefield of Verdun is usually dominated by the forts of Douamont and Vaux, the museum at Fleury and the striking, huge Ossuary. Although this gives a flavor of the horrific fighting that took place in the area, particularly in 1916, the visitor will be hard pressed to get much more than an impression from such places. This book seeks to guide the battlefield pilgrim into parts of the battlefield that get rarely visited by means of a series of walks, a number of which include the major sites. The four tours have been carefully walked. All are practicable for a reasonably healthy adult; the tours vary in length, most taking a half day to complete and the longest (the last) a day. In a twist to the usual walks to be found in the Battleground series, Christina makes full use of the numerous field graves and isolated memorials that are to be found on the Verdun battlefield, a number of which will bring visitors to the most visited sites. In the course of these walks many physical remnants will be found, such as gun positions, bunkers and trench systems, the significance of which is fully explained. The walks have not been chosen at random; by following these the tourer will get a far greater understanding of why the fighting at Verdun developed as it did and why such places as Fort Vaux were so significant to both sides. The field graves and memorials to the combatants, very often of individuals, provide an opportunity to give their story and the unit action in which they were fighting when they were killed. Verdun is a battlefield where the story of units and individuals can easily become lost in the horror of the incessant fighting that raged over ten months; and over ground which is extremely difficult to read because of the post war forestation program. Profusely illustrated and with excellent mapping, a hallmark of Christina Holstein's books, a visitor who follows the walks in this book will be left with a far clearer idea of the men who fought and died here and of the features of the battlefield and their significance in this battle that so challenged the endurance of the armies of two nations.

This WWII battlefield guide offers twelve walking tours covering all the major sites of the D-Day landings in Normandy with in-depth historical context. D-Day the momentous first step in the Allied liberation of France and the rest of northwest Europe. The places associated with the Normandy landings are among the most memorable that a battlefield visitor can explore. In Walking D-Day, military historian Paul Reed takes visitors through all the major sites, from Pegasus Bridge, Merville Battery, Ouistrehem and Longues Battery to Juno, Gold, Omaha and Utah Beaches, Pointe du Hoc and Sainte-Mre-glise. Each of the twelve walks includes a vividly detailed historical introduction. Information on the many battlefield monuments and the military cemeteries is included, and there are over 120 illustrations. Walking D-Day introduces the visitor not only to the places where the Allies landed and first clashed with the Germans defenders but also to the Normandy landscape over which the critical battles that decided the course of the war were fought.

A walking tour guidebook for travelers and armchair historians interested in visiting the sites of the World War I campaign in Turkey. Gallipoli was a First World War tragedy, a side show that had ambitious hopes to end the war early. Despite the immense gallantry displayed by those fighting, from the beginning, this grand scale 1915 operation was plagued with mismanagement. Failure in high places betrayed the heroism in the field, resulting in casualties of over half a million. Those who visit the area today owe to those who served and died a conscious effort to see beyond the heartbreak and futility, to appreciate the what, the how, and the why. There is no better way to do this today than walking the battlefields with this invaluable guide. From the beaches and fields of Helles to the precipitous heights of Anzac and the plains of Suvla, this book guides the walker to the key points of the campaign. Infamous names that are synonymous with the fighting are covered: Sedd-el Bahr, Krithia, Achi Baba, the Vineyard, Gully Ravine, Kereviz Dere, Lone Pine, the Nek, Chunuk Bair, Lala Baba, Chocolate Hill, Kidney Hill and Kiretch Tepe. All of these features are set in a scene of beauty and tragedy that still pervades this eastern Mediterranean peninsula. In total there are ten walks, some challenging, others not, with a narrative that helps make sense of it all. “Whether you are looking for a guidebook or a concise introduction to the campaign, Chambers’s offering is well worth your attention.” —WW1 Geek

A tour of the historic French battlefield that goes beyond the usual dates and places, and reveals the full story of the fighting after the fighting. Despite the popular view, the French army did not cease offensive operations after the disastrous Nivelle Offensive of spring 1917 and the subsequent mutinies. Nor did the fighting at Verdun come to an end in 1916. The successful French counteroffensives at the end of that year led to preliminary planning for a two Army operation in 1917 to break out of the Verdun salient and recapture the strategically very significant Briey coal basin. The French Army mutinies of May and June 1917 led to a more limited version of the plan being implemented, with the aim of establishing new lines for a breakout in 1918. The need to rebuild morale in the French army meant that nothing was left to chance. The immense logistical effort of this late summer 1917 campaign and the detailed planning and careful training at all levels brought success to an army weary of war but determined to win. The industrial nature of the preparations, the spectacular numbers of guns, and the first appearance of the Americans at Verdun presage the campaigns of 1918 and the final Allied victory. Christina Holstein, Britain’s premier expert in the battlefields around Verdun, leads the reader around the various vital points of this largely unknown battle of 1917, one which was crucial for the rebuilding of a French army that played such a notable part in the victorious Allied campaign of 1918. Like all the books in the Battleground Europe series, it is profusely illustrated and mapped using contemporary and modern material, with clear maps to support each of the tours.

"Boesinghe is not a place name that often comes up in battlefield touring ... Yet during the months and years between late October 1914 and September 1918 large number of units spent periods of time of dreary discomfort in water and mud, interspersed with tragedy, death and maiming, in this northernmost outpost of the Salient. Significant events happened -- the fighting at Second Ypres in 1915 and the push forward on 31st July 1917 ... but the memory of the area was generally one of trench warfare ... This book gives a flavour of these months of trench warfare: short entries in war diaries, filled with routine and interspersed with trench raids, small and large ... The extensive tours section take the visitor around the battlefield and provides points where it is possible to gain an appreciation of the issues that faced the rival armies"--Page 6.