The introduction details the life of the author Ernst Friedrich and his staunch pacifism. Friedrich was a believer in non violence.

The book itself is a collection of photographs of the atrocities of the first world war and commentary on the futility and obscenity of war. The images in the book are all taken from his collection of photographs which were exhibited at his anti war museum in Berlin which the Nazi's destroyed and closed in 1933.

The Museum reopened in 1982 (15 years after Ernst Friedrichs Death) and continues on to this day. https://www.museumsportal-berlin.de/en/museums/anti-kriegs-museum/