Military Model Scene

Title: The Meuse Heights to the Armistice
Author: Maarten Otte
Publisher: Pen & Sword
ISBN: 978-1-52679-617-2

A new Battleground guide, part of their series covering the American Expeditionary Forces in the Great War. A 264-page soft-cover book in the usual style for these Battlefield guides, ideal if you are visiting the area by yourself, rather than taking a group tour.
The first half of the book starts with an interesting Introduction that sets the scene for the US involvement during the last 6 months or so of the war, a period when they actually lost more casualties than those suffered throughout the 10 years of the Vietnam War. The story of the various divisions are told in sequence, and the fighting in a broadly chronological order. They were stationed in the Meuse-Argonne region, and the 4 chapters cover the actions of 33rd, 29th and 26th divisions, and then 79th, 26th and 32nd divisions in their major offensive from the 3rd to 11th November, before finally tackling the 5th division in the same period.
The second half of the book provides 4 detailed car tours, with GPS references, along with 1 walking tour. Like the rest of the book, these are not just described, but illustrated with plenty of maps, archive images plus modern photos showing you what you can look out for to help you round the battlefield. At the end, there are also some very useful tips for touring the battlefield in France, and some rules you must follow.
One of the benefits of touring a battlefield on your own is that you are not restricted by a pre-set schedule that you may have on a group tour. If you want to spend more time somewhere or find something which grabs your attention, you can choose to do so. That's also why it is very helpful to have a battlefield guide like this one. With this particular guide, the story and the area it covers are still among the less well travelled of the WW1 battlefields on the Western Front. There are pros and cons to that, which are mentioned in the book but there is still lots to see. Another excellent addition to the extensive Battleground series.
Thanks to Pen & Sword for our review copy.

Robin