La guerre souterraine (underground warfare), is published by éditions Perrin (Paris).

During troubled periods, all around the world, people dug underground passages (souterrains) to protect and defend themselves and also to attack the enemies.

This book presents a panorama of underground warfare around the world developed in the following chapters :

- underground cities dug in Cappadocia (Turkey) between the 8th and  the 15th century,
- underground refuges used in the west of France from the 12th to the 16th century,
- village underground refuges dug and used by the villagers in northern France between the 15th and the 18th century,
- methods of undermining in the world from the Antiquity to the 20th century,
- use of quarries  by soldiers in the north-east of France during the First World War,
- tunnel warfare in Vietnam during the Indochina war, then the Vietnam war (20th century),
- cave warfare in Algeria from the 19th century to the 20th century,
- high mountain complexes used by Mudjahideen and Taliban in Afghanistan during 20th and early 21th century,
- tunnels used at present in Lebanon and Gaza.

Thanks to more than 25 years of research and thought, this original synthesis is based on exploration, archaeological evidences and various testimonies. It is the first time that a book shows and explains how the circumstances lead populations or combatants to choose underground warfare.  

Laurent will present our new book about underground warfare.

La Boîte à Livres, 19 rue nationale, 37000 Tours

tél. : 02.47.05.70.39 - e-mail : info@boitealivres.com – website

Laurent will give a lecture on Souterrains of Touraine illustrated with 50 pictures.

Musée René Descartes, 29 rue René Descartes, 37160 DESCARTES - tél. : 02 47 59 79 19 -  mail : musee@ville-descartes.fr  -  web site

During the First World War, from the beginning of the position war, in Northeastern France from Arras to Verdun, the armies of both camps were looking for shelters for their first line units, but also for their billets, their support units, their storages and their hospitals… In order to hold out against the great artillery power, the militaries colonized old subterranean quarries or dug large subterranean works.

Many period photographs show lifestyle in these subterranean shelters and so called creutes.

Visit the Photo Library

Watch the film by Elise Charbey and Christophe Brousseau

During the Indochina war, then the Vietnam war, Viet-minh and Viet-cong fighters dug gigantic subterranean networks under Vietnamese villages and jungle. These war tunnels were used as shelter for fighters, protecting them from bombardments, enabling them to escape from mopping-up operations, to move secretly and to counter attack where they were not expected. So, at the time of the Têt offensive, the attack on Saigon started from the famous Cu Chi tunnels, set about 40 kilometres north of Saigon.

Elsewhere, Vietnamese people have dug village underground refuges in order to protect civilian population, fighters and storages of weapons and ammunition.
                                                                                     

                                                                                               Visit the Photo Library

The souterrain of the castle of La Roche-Clermault and its graffiti.

More information about the symposium

To browse and read the book online (in French)