Master illustrator and storyteller Sergio Toppi takes on the topic of War in this collection of short stories set in various global conflicts, from the battlefields of Prussia in 1742 to Colonial Papua in the 19th Century and Southeast Asia and Yugoslavia in the 20thCentury.

These classic works have never been published in English until now. Toppi’s influence on the modern comic industry is supported by popular legends including Frank Miller, Bill Sienkiewicz, Dave McKean, Walter Simonson, and Sean Gordon Murphy.

Sergio Toppi was an Italian illustrator and comics author from Milan. Toppi's art style is known for its sophisticated compositions and an unmatched ability with hatching.

Young Toppi left his medical studies in the early 50's to pursue a career in illustration, which lasted until his death at age eighty. His illustrations were featured in many Italian newspapers, magazines and books.

Toppi also developed a comics career since the middle of the 60's. His body of work in comics is mostly composed of short stories on a wide range of subject matters, often in a historical or fantasy setting. Toppi's stories appeared in a number of Italian comics magazines, from the ones devoted to kids such as Il Corriere dei Piccoli and Il Giornalino, to those targeting a more mature or larger audience, like Sgt. Kirk, Linus, alter alter, Corto Maltese, L'Eternauta, Comic Art, Orient Express. For the latter magazine Toppi created in the 80's his only recurring comics character, called Il Collezionista (The Collector).