Hold the Line

With the front under sustained pressure, the survivors of the first attack are ordered to defend a new position before it is fully prepared. Stragglers, artillerymen and infantry from broken formations are forced into an improvised line, knowing that withdrawal could expose units on either flank. Holding becomes a matter of ammunition, communication and the willingness to remain when organised command begins to fail.

Hold the Line develops the series’ portrait of defensive warfare in 1918. It focuses on the way a battalion absorbs replacements, casualties and contradictory orders during a moving battle. The novel treats endurance as a collective achievement rather than an individual feat, with the line surviving only because soldiers repeatedly rebuild it after each assault.