First published in 2004 as La chair et l'acier: l'invention de la guerre moderne, 1914-1918, by Éditions Tallandier--Page ix.

Machine generated contents note: ch. 1 The Masterminds or La Revanche -- Five Heads for One Thought -- Creating an Intellectual Aristocracy -- Modes of Thought -- The Òffensive-Minded' Men -- ch. 2 In Search of a Doctrine -- War Under the Microscope -- The Napoleonic Men' -- Offensive Combat at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century -- Modern Style and New School -- ch. 3 The Flaws in the Learning Process -- Officer-Training -- Training Insufficiencies -- On the Eve of the War -- ch. 4 The Choice of Arms -- The áBayonet Men' -- The Virtuosos -- The Strange Case of the Heavy Artillery -- Twilight of the Cavalry -- Assaulting the Sky -- ch. 5 The Test of Fire -- The Cost of Confusion -- Origins of the Shortcomings -- The Turnaround -- ch. 6 The Pressure of the Front -- Micro-Transformations -- The Model of Scrabble -- Dynamic of the Tactical Innovations -- The Restraints on Change -- Unsettled Time -- ch. 7 GHQ and Tactical Change -- The Reshaping of Roles -- The Assimilation Through Training -- The Lost Paradigms -- ch. 8 Confronting the Trenches -- The Industrialization of the Infantry -- Prisoners of Glory -- The Transformations of the Artillery -- Cavalry of the Skies -- ch. 9 In the Death Zone -- Surviving in a Nightmare -- Courage -- Holding on -- ch. 10 The Steel Fist -- Why did Estienne's Project Succeed? -- Painful Apprenticeship -- The Assault Artillery Reaches Maturity -- ch. 11 The Grand Army of 1918 -- Preparing for a New Form of Warfare -- France's Shock Troops -- Mastery of the Deep Battle -- The Combined-Arms Battlefield -- The Model Battle.