To comprehend and chronicle the sheer scale of the conflict on the Western Front demands a book of similar scope. This is that book. More than just a chronological account of the fighting, this definitive work is an astonishingly comprehensive and forensic anatomy of how and why the armies fought, of their weapons, equipment and tactics, for over four long and bloody years on a battlefield that stretched from the Belgian coast to the Swiss frontier - a distance of 450 miles. Written by the author of the three previous bestselling Companions on Waterloo, Trafalgar and Gettysburg, this is the complete definitive work of reference on the battles of the Western Front. Alongside the British Army, full coverage is given to Britain' s allies - France, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, India and the United States - as well as the Germans. From the railways on the front to the medical corps and the chaplains, this comprehensive companion tells the true and complete story of the Great War on the Western Front. Featuring a year-by-year enumeration of the critical events and battles plus examinations of all branches of the armies, this definitive guide showcases an incredible plethora of original and intricate maps and diagrams, all in full colour, illustrating particular offensives, battles, raids or tactics, the configurations of trench formations or the trajectory of mortar bombardments. The first conflict to be chronicled from the start by photography, here you will find over 200 resonant and remarkable archive images from the time, many rarely seen, which are complemented with modern colour photographs showing how historic battlefields look nowadays, and paying tribute to the magnificent and poignant cemeteries, monuments and ossuaries that mark the fallen for today's battlefield visitor.