A monumental photo book documenting the scenes of more than 3,000 years of human conflict.
Throughout his forty-year career, Yan Morvan has put his own life on the line to capture the realities of life in the midst of violence, from Northern Ireland to Afghanistan. But as one scene of devastation succeeded another, he came to question the purpose of this work. "War photography is just pornography," he told one interviewer. "It doesn’t change anything."
So he resolved to undertake a different kind of battlefield photography, one that would show how war ran like a jagged scar through all of human history, and left scars on the landscape as well. Traveling the globe, he sought out the scenes of history’s most important battles, meticulously positioning his 8 × 10 Deardorff view camera to capture the perspective of the common soldier on the front lines.
The end result of his decade-long quest is this monumental volume, presenting 430 images from 250 historical battlefields. The earliest is the semihistorical Battle of Jericho, recorded in the Book of Joshua; the most recent is Sirte, site of the final battle of the Libyan Civil War in 2011. In between are the battlegrounds of the Persian Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, the American Civil War, the World Wars, the Vietnam War, and many others. The text includes a concise written account of each battle, as well as an extensive interview with the photographer.
This book is a staggering work of art, an important historical documents, and a memorial to all those who have fought and died on the battlefield.
Book features :
- This book represents a monumental achievement in documentary photography, and we will support it with appropriate marketing and publicity efforts.
- It will be a must-have for collectors of photo books and anyone with an interest in military history.
- 430 colour illustrations
About the Author
Yan Morvan is known equally for photographing the bikers and gangsters of his native France, and as a war correspondent. His coverage of the Lebanese Civil War for the Sipa agency and Newsweek won multiple awards, and he has also photographed armed conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Cambodia, Rwanda, and Libya.
Industry Reviews
Featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Daily Beast, Military History Quarterly, and more
"If you look hard enough you can almost see the thousands of ghosts whose bodies are fertilizing the homeland."
-The New York Times
"...A brilliant concept."
-The Daily Beast
"Imposing yet illuminating . . . [a] visual journey of contemplation."
-BookPage
"This massive, beautifully
produced book by photographer and war correspondent Yan Morvan is an important new historical resource on the subject of war."
-Black & White Magazine
"A monumental volume."
-Military History Quarterly
"Morvan, a French documentary photographer whose work often depicts conflict, turns his focus to landscape portraiture, documenting historical battlefields from around the world in this evocative photo book. ... The combination of historical anecdotes and images fuels readers' imaginations; for example, a photo of the Isonzo River in Gorizia, Italy, is made harrowing by a paragraph-length caption noting that 50,000 men died in the region during WWI. This striking photo collection provides a new view of the history of war."
-Publishers Weekly
"...it is rare to come across a book that truly measures up to superlatives like awesome, magnificent, or epic. This colossal volume requires all of these descriptions and more. ... Engaging, gorgeous, and thought provoking, this massive tome is a truly landmark example of the synergy between military history and the visual arts."
-New York Journal of Books