Beautiful block diagrams

Block diagrams are out of favor today, but at one time they were a useful and evocative way of representing terrain. One of the acknowledged experts in this field was Armin Lobeck (1886 - 1958). It's a shame that Lobeck's work is not better known (though his book things Maps Don't tell us is still in print and features a selection of his diagrams). As far as I know the only biographical work on him is a Masters thesis by Fred Grandinetti.

During WWI Lobeck was employed by the US government in their preparations for peace and he made a number of detailed studies of the areas likely to be discussed.

Here are some images of these maps (available at the National Archives, College Park, MD).