J.E. Kaufmann and H.W. Kaufmann, Fortress Europe: From Stone to Steel Fortifications 1850-1945 by Chris Madsen

Different European countries planned, funded, and built a wide variety of fortifications and military strongholds in the modern period from the Crimean War to the end of the Second World War.Some were more or less permanent installations prepared during peacetime over years and decades and manned by dedicated troops, while others were definitely ad hoc in response to wartime exigencies, time and available resources, geography, as well as particular threats and needs.Fortifications primarily fulfilled defensive purposes to bolster the fighting capabilities of positional armed forces, to slow down or ward off attacks, and to provide greater temporal space for formulation of policy, plans, and national mobilization.Technological changes in the art and design of fortifications were also notable in the so-called second industrial revolution, as the characteristics of weapons and materials advanced.Joseph and Hanna Kaufmann, a husband and wife team based in Texas, both retired from careers in public school and college education, are well-known for previous publications on fortresses and fortifications in the new and old world.The present work updates and synthesizes many themes and topics developed previously and gives particular attention to coastal defences and fortifications depending on the locale and strategic circumstances of particular countries near the sea.The book is divided into 17 distinct chapters, each covering a specific country and area for either part of or the entire time period.The focus progresses from smaller neutral countries and the Baltic region to Central and Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, and finishes with the big three -the British Isles, Third Republic France, and Germany from the Kaiser to Hitler.The Kaufmanns explain the changes wrought from introduction of rifled artillery, high explosive shells, and replacing centuries-old stonework with better protection from new materials.At first, Hermann Grüson's process for chilled cast iron possessed superior qualities for resisting penetrating fire compared to steel and was used extensively in armour facings and armoured turrets.The contest between protective armour and bigger and better guns played out with new offerings from private companies with state contacts like Armstrong, Krupp, and Schneider.The Belgian fort designer Henri Brialmont and his French counterpart Raymond Séré de Rivières, though less lasting, were recognized at the time for their expertise and innovation in the field.Quickly obsolete once completed, these types of fortifications proved their worth in the

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