"In six weeks during April and May 1915, as World War I escalated, Germany forever altered the way war would be fought with poison gas, torpedoes killing civilians, and aerial bombardment. Each of these actions violated rules of war carefully agreed at the Hague Conventions of 1898 and 1907. The era of weapons of mass destruction had dawned. While each of these momentous events has been chronicled in histories of the war, historian Diana Preston links them for the first time, revealing the dramatic stories behind each through the eyes of those who were there, whether making the decisions or experiencing their effect." -- Provided by publisher.

Spring 1915 : the legacy -- "A flash of lightning from the north" -- "Humanising war" -- "The law of facts" -- "A scrap of paper" -- "The worst of contrabands" -- "England will burn" -- "A most effective weapon" -- "Something that makes people permanently incapable of fighting" -- "Operation Disinfection" -- "This filthy loathsome pestilence" -- "Solomon's Temple" -- "They got us this time, all right" -- "Wilful and wholesale murder" -- "Too proud to fight" -- "The very earth shook" -- "Order, counter-order, disorder!" -- "A gift of love" -- "Do you know anything about gas?" -- "Zepp and a portion of clouds" -- "Remember the Lusitania" -- "Each one must fight on to the end" -- "Weapons of mass destruction" -- Appendix. The Lusitania controversies.