Clash of Steel

Private Callahan has survived months of trench fighting when his unit is ordered to assault a fortified hill held by experienced German troops. This attack is supported by heavy tanks and aircraft, but the new machines cannot remove the wire, shell holes and close-range fighting awaiting the infantry. Callahan must keep his comrades moving while enemy defences and unfamiliar weapons turn the advance into another battle of attrition.

Published under the alternative title Break the Line, the novel uses a fictional assault to depict the changing Western Front. Tanks and aircraft create opportunities, but success still depends on coordination between arms and on exhausted soldiers exploiting brief breaches before the defenders recover. Callahan’s perspective keeps the focus on the men beneath the larger claims made for military technology.