Following the early battles of 1914 along the Marne and in the Ypres salient. World War I rapidly transformed from a war of movement into one of attrition, with the opposing sides entrenching themselves in a line of fortified positions from the Flanders coastline to the Swiss border.

Introduction; Chronology; Operational History; The Principles of Defence; Tour of a Trench System; Life in a Trench; Design and Development; Aftermath; The Sites Today; Bibliography; Glossary; Index