The Battlefields of the First World War: the Unseen Panoramas of the Western Front

Here are the great battlefields of the First World War as you have never seen them before, from the first cavalry skirmishes, through the horrors of the Somme and Passchendaele, to the final weeks of conflict. A revelatory, unique collection of panoramic photographs covering the whole of the British sectors of the Western Front, end to end. The vast battlescapes are interspersed with poignant individual photographs and the recollections of the soldiers caught in the action. This new edition of the acclaimed volume features 30 recently discovered German panoramas, plus a new DVD that includes 60 extra panoramas making a total of 300 panoramas in interactive form; as well as updated mapping throughout.The last time most of the panoramas were viewed - in the trenches - they were marked Top-Secret and destined for the eyes of the commanding officer only. Taken at huge personal risk by specialist photographers during the war, the panoramas reveal what no other photographs can - the view beyond the trench parapet - and a great deal more.Each panorama offers a view of up to 160 degrees, so sharply focused that the individual figures of a waiting sniper or a soldier picking lice from his shirt can be made out. They document a lost world. What they reveal challenges almost all of our existing perceptions of the 'war to end all wars', and the nature of the landscape of battle. As well as vistas of tortured pastures and seas of mud, they show churches still standing, sandy beaches, and fields of flowers. In many, there is little evidence of war at all. There are indeed desolate scenes but, above all, these photographs now reveal that for much of the time the war was waged in a real and recognisable landscape.