Vialard, Dominique Fortifications dans les Alpes du Nord. France, Suisse, Italie. Volume 1

The history of fortifications in the Northern Alps describes the emergence of military installations in the mountains or foothills that marked the borders of the highly fluctuating territories in the centre of Europe, mainly of the House of Savoy. The architecture of these fortresses evolved with the progress of artillery and the original counties, which consisted largely of large valleys, were transferred to the highlands in 1713 and then completely to the highlands of Sardinia in 1860 and finally to Piedmont in Greater Italy. The Swiss cantons, which made peace with the Kingdom of France in 1515, united to form the great Helvetic Confederation and fortified themselves strongly from the 19th century onwards in order to maintain their neutrality. A military constant will also remain between the three countries: In the mountains, the terrain commands. The technical and strategic descriptions confirm the basic rule of pioneer officers and army generals: He who holds the heights holds the depths. Based mainly on French archives, the 740 pages of the two-volume work, which are comprehensively documented with over 2000 illustrations, summarise the major periods of fortifications in Europe as well as the symbolic fortifications of the large region of the Northern Alps, the border triangle of France, Switzerland and Italy.