This book is about World War 1 and the aftermath of The Battle Of The Somme. It's a kind of historical investigation into the treatment of allied soldiers and also of the civilian population in a Northern France town. The allied soldiers were told they must surrender and surrender their arms immediately or be shot as spies. France after being conquered by Germany was like a giant concentration camp with the German soldiers covetting any usable possessions the civilian population had. One scientist working on a vaccine was sentenced to death for having pigeons which had been using for lab work and another scientist had to intercide on his behalf. Civilians couldn't have pigeons as they could send messages and any had to be turned over to the German forces. Anyone who helped allied troops would be sentenced to be hanged and any mayors who were found to have allied troops in their towns were hanged. Towns would also be heavily fined collectively or the town would be burnt down. Despite this many allied airman and soldiers did seek shelter in French towns.