Charles de Gaulle called it "fatal avenue". He was referring to that broad sweep of low-lying country stretching from the Channel coast of Normandy in the west to the valley of the Moselle on the eastern flank, and from Paris northwards to Flanders. Over the centuries invading armies have swept back and forth over this bloody terrain, and the names of the bitter battles fought here read like a dictionary of military history: Agincourt and Arras, Bethune and Bapaume, Calais and Crecy - through to Verdun, Vimy and Ypres. Evidence of a martial past is never far away. It is a landscape speckled with military architecture from every epoch: medieval walls, Vauban's forts, ravelins and lunettes, to the concrete and cupolas of the 20th century. This book is not only a military history of Northern France and Flanders from 1337 and 1945, but also a guide to the battles and campaigns, the geography of the terrain that was fought over, the tactics that were employed by the respective armies, and the weaponry they used. The author also wrote "The World Atlas of Warfare", "Firing Line" and "Nuclear Warriors".