To say more on the subject of fascination, though probably no original observations and nothing not said before, the intrigue of this era—harking back to times of empire and conquest and projected forward to dystopian and speculative futures, can be distilled in that hypothetical unease and the human capacity to imagine things, outcomes as otherwise.
A torrent of strategizing and contingencies, death and destruction mechanized by infernal machines and armies and whole populations won and marshaled, and yet the best-laid stratagems and technical organization, like these emplacements along the beaches of Normandy (plus the formidable challenge that the line of defense conjured) hard-fought and great costs but overcome by brute force and sheer determination.
The pillboxes wedged into the cliffs and dunes have expansive footprints that form a strange undulating terrain where the beach grasses are reclaiming parts of the foundations. To experience these old shells of war really does make one wonder how things might have turned out differently—only for the want of chance and accident.
A torrent of strategizing and contingencies, death and destruction mechanized by infernal machines and armies and whole populations won and marshaled, and yet the best-laid stratagems and technical organization, like these emplacements along the beaches of Normandy (plus the formidable challenge that the line of defense conjured) hard-fought and great costs but overcome by brute force and sheer determination. 
The pillboxes wedged into the cliffs and dunes have expansive footprints that form a strange undulating terrain where the beach grasses are reclaiming parts of the foundations. To experience these old shells of war really does make one wonder how things might have turned out differently—only for the want of chance and accident.
