Killing Time

Hardly a month passes without some dramatic and sometimes tragic discovery being made along the killing fields of the Western Front. Poignant remains of British soldiers buried during battle and then forgotten - lying in rows arm in arm, or found crouching at the entrance to a dugout. Whole 'underground cities' of trenches, dugouts and shelters are found, preserved in the mud of Flanders - with newspapers and blankets scattered where they were left. There are field hospitals carved out of the chalk country of the Somme, tunnels marked with graffiti by long dead hands and tons of volatile bombs and gas canisters waiting to explode. Yet, while there are innumerable books on the history of the war, there is not a single book on its archaeology. Nicholas J. Saunders' new book is therefore unique. In an authoritative and accessible way, it brings together widely scattered discoveries, and offer fresh insights into the human dimension of the war.