Historical non-fictional account of the massive military fortress projects in France built during the 19th & 20th centuries that were designed to either prevent invasion or maintain tyrannical rule. These concrete and steel emplacements were the epitome of cutting edge technology of their day. They were both ingenious and dreadful. Manned by hundreds of thousands of soldiers, these expensive ramparts were supposed to be the salvation of both the western democracies and eventually the Nazi Third Reich. The price of passage through these great obstacles was to be paid in rivers of blood.