Today we would be very surprised to see a soldier going into battle in red trousers and blue coats, but that is how French soldiers first fought in the trenches of the Western Front in World War I.

Camouflage at War explores uniforms, military vehicles and buildings from World War I to the present day. From a dummy tank in North Africa in World War II to the different uniforms of Waffen-SS on the Eastern Front soldiers to zebra-striped dazzle ships in the north Atlantic to today’s digital pixelated pattern uniforms used by US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, the book is a wide-ranging examination of the developments and wrong turns in military camouflage all around the world. Although this was military work, the inspiration often came from the natural world and the designers were civilian artists.

As we move further into the 21st century, the use of camouflage is changing. Straightforward visual camouflage is less important for aircraft as they can be picked up by heat sensors, so the task becomes to create non-visual camouflage, deflect radar signals and reduce their signature. Today, technology is being developed to project live images on to bodies, so that they appear invisible.

From uniforms to tanks, from ships to aircraft to military buildings disguised as civilian ones, the book is an expert account of how different countries have sought to hide their forces in plain view for the past century. Packed with 200 colour and black and white photographs and colour artworks, Camouflage at War is a fascinating exploration of how warfare has changed over the last hundred years.