Features hundreds of maps, illustrations and historical photographs.

The book comes in three distinct sections – the first is an in-depth analysis of the German 'Westwall' defense system built between 1936 and 1944. This includes the build phases, the organization of the workforce and the political background. The second section looks at the Allied campaign to overcome the defenses of the Siegfried Line through the winter of 1944/45, focussing on three major operations by the US, British and Canadian armies. The third section deals with the perception of the Westwall in the eighty years since the war and then outlines a battlefield tour guide of those elements that still survive.

This book includes maps, photographs and illustrations. Of these, around 140 are in a color section making up the concluding section of the book.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• FOREWORD
• PART 1: THE WALL IN THE WEST
  • Predecessors of the Westwall (1933-36)
  • The Pionier-Bauprogramm (March 1936-May 1938)
  • Construction in 1936
  • Construction in 1937
  • Construction in early 1938
  • The Limes-Bauprogramm (May-October 1938)
  • The Luftverteidigungszone West
  • The Aachen-Saar-Bauprogramm (October 1938-December 1939)
  • Final Work on the Westwall (January-June 1940)
  • Dereliction and Dismantling (1940-44)
  • The Rebuild Programme
  • BUNKER DESIGN
  • Ausbaustärke
  • Pionier-Bauprogramm
  • B.Werke
  • Limes-Bauprogramm
  • Aachen-Saar-Bauprogramm
  • Regelbauprogramm
  • Armoured Turrets
• PART 2: BREACHING THE LINE
  • THE SIEGFRIED LINE CAMPAIGN (1944-45)
  • THE FIRST INCURSION
  • Into the Hürtgen Forest
  • The Forest as a Combat Zone
  • The German Defence
  • US 9th Division
  • AACHEN
  • The Southern Advance
  • Attack from the North
  • Assault on the City
  • HÜRTGEN RESUMED
  • 28th Division
  • The Kall Trail
  • 1st Division
  • 4th Division
  • 8th Division and Combat Command R, 5th Armored Division
  • 83rd Division
  • Postscript
  • Conclusion
  • Aftermath
• PART 3 – BATTLEFIELD GUIDE
  • Aachen/Hürtgen
  • Irrel/Prüm
  • Merzig/Saalouis
  • Saarbrüken
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• GLOSSARY
• Unit Organisation Tables
• Comparative Rank Chart