They Shall Not Pass

An American correspondent records visits to Verdun and neighboring battlefields, describing the Vauban citadel and its subterranean shelters, the city’s gradual, block-by-block destruction, encounters with senior officers and front-line soldiers, and everyday support operations such as bakeries and water works. The dispatches mix vivid scene-setting and human observation with tactical discussion of the Meuse fighting, comparisons to other great engagements, and on-site explanation of terrain, defensive measures, and the physical and moral strain imposed by prolonged artillery bombardment.