Powell an American was a war correspondent for a US newspaper at the beginning of WWI. He and his American photographer Donald Thompson covered Belgium from August to October 1914. Due to their citizenship (the US was neutral at the time) they had access to both side of the line. They drove around the war zone protected only by the American flags on their car. Powell describes the beginnings of 'modern' warfare where an artillery shell controlled from a captive balloon kills from 8 miles away. He also describes the first bombing of a city from a Zeppelin, the first armored cars and what was probably the last cavalry charge. Winston Churchill makes an appearance promising to save the day in Antwerp but fails to do so.