Defeating the enemy by any means has always
been a goal of warring parties. This was also
true during the First World War, when no stone
was left unturned to eliminate the enemy, even
by using aggressive chemicals or poisonous
substances, which science readily provided. For
this reason, it soon became necessary to provide one’s own soldiers with special equipment to
protect them against this invisible enemy.
In recent years the study of the gas-defence
equipment supplied to the warring armies has
seen growing interest. This book, comprehensively illustrated with photographs of more than
200 original specimens preserved in private
collections or museums, seeks to describe and
illustrate the most important gas-defence equipment used during the First World War by the imperial armies of Germany and Austria-Hungary
and by the army of the Kingdom of Italy.