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In August 1914 much of Europe was pitched into a war which would eclipse all others in terms of its industrialised ferocity. In an era where photography and film recording were still in their infancy, much of the news was relayed through the work of reportage artists. Pre-eminent amongst such artists was Fortunino Matania who was The Sphere’s artist-on-the-spot for events ranging from coronations to colliery disasters. Sent to a variety of fronts to cover the conflict, his illustrations created a gripping and, at times, life-affirming testimony to those traumatic times.

For the first time ever, this book collects those images in large format so that they can be viewed as they were intended.