From the First World War to the present day, animals have played a key part in warfare - and many have suffered and died as a result. Juliet Gardiner's book is a moving tribute to their efforts and sacrifice - illustrated with hundreds of evocative photographs and paintings. Many different animals have played a role on the battlefield - horses and mules carrying supplies and munitions; dogs, like Buster in Iraq, seeking out ammo dumps; canaries trained by tunnellers to detect gas; carrier pigeons sending messages, like Gustav who flew back with the first reports of the D-Day landings; camels used in the Arab Revolt in the First World War; and dolphins trained to protect submarines.

Published in association with the Imperial War Museum.

Front line -- Beasts of burden: horses on the Western Front -- Ships of the desert in the First World War -- Beasts of burden: lesser lights and other animals -- Despatches from the front -- Seek and find -- To the rescue -- Mascots and other animals -- Home front.