Capturing the immediacy of fighting and the writhing bodies of soldiers, as well as keeping narrative clarity, proved enormously difficult for painters depicting battles before the advent of photography. Michael Hall reveals how they rose to the challenge

Our pick of the latest military history books

The jungle warfare in the Far East was both a tactical and political challenge for British forces in WWII

A new book combines poetry from WW1 with photography from the trenches and home front. Geoff Harris finds out more, including the photo-restoration process

ORTONA, ITALY 20-27 DECEMBER 1943

From rapidly evolving roles to new technologies, historian and airpower expert John Curatola discusses how fighter planes shaped the Second World War