The design development and combat history of some of the most technologically advanced fortress networks in Germany and France.

Following the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, the German Army began to construct a fortress line from Strasbourg to Luxembourg to protect their new territory, the centrepiece of which was the great Moselstellung (Moselle Position) of Metz / Thionville.

Illustrated with rare photographs and full-colour cutaway artwork, this book examines the design and development of the fortress and analyses its use in combat, focusing particularly on the part it played in holding up General Patton's Third Army's advance across France in 1944.

Clayton Donnell has had a life-long fascination with forts. He has previously written Fortress 60: The Forts of the Meuse in World War I (Osprey, 2006) co-written Modern European Military Fortifications, 1870-1950: A Selected Annotated Bibliography (Praeger, 2004), and has created websites on the forts of Liège and Namur, and the Maginot Line.

Brian Delf began his career working in a London art studio producing artwork for advertising and commercial publications. Since 1972, he has worked as a freelance illustrator on a variety of subjects including natural history, architecture and technical cutaways. His illustrations have been published in over thirty countries. Brian lives and works in Oxfordshire.

Introduction * Chronology * Design and development * Tour of the sites * Principles of defence * The living sites * The sites at war * Aftermath * The sites today * Bibliography * Glossary * Index