ABSTRACT
Artillery dominated the First World War. Photographs, memoirs, poetry, and prose all show the different effects of shellfire. High explosives and shrapnel bent steel, ripped flesh, and cratered the ground. While man has memorialized the war, nature still has not mended the damage, and French and Belgian farmers still reap their steel harvest. But what drove the artillery? How was it used? Was it used effectively? As effectively as possible? Who decided how to use it? Was it well integrated into the army? How did these issues change over time?
