In the spirit of Niall Ferguson's The Pity of War, Holmes, the host of The History Channel documentary on the subject, describes the major and most costly battles of the Western Front -- including Verdun, the Somme, and Passchendaele -- many of which were dubious gains at best, and all of which were won only with great human sacrifice. In telling this larger story, Holmes draws on the stories of the surviving soldiers themselves, making vivid the human experience of war -- how the men endured the indiscriminate slaughter and incomprehensible brutality that surrounded them.

Illustrated with photographs, artwork, and battlefield diagrams, this is the story of many of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers and a perceptive and powerful account of world history.