Product Description

This is Sassoon's fictionalized autobiography of his experiences in the trenches during World War I, between the spring of 1916 and the summer of 1917. The narrative moves from the trenches to the Fourth Army School, to Morlancourt and a raid, then to and through the Somme.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #144361 in Books
• Published on: 2000-04-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 80 pages

Customer Reviews

Memoirs of an infantry officer...
The reason why I think this book is so much more affecting than modern war 'classic's' such as Sebastian Faulks' 'Bird song' and Pat Barker's 'Regeneration' is its use of subtlety. Rather than explaining with great horror and drama the awfulness of the trenches, Sassoon uses comedy, subtle hints at the experiences of 1st World war trenches, and the use of distinct detail describing minimal objects and events that are off the battle field. In my opinion this leads to the reader using their imagination about the goings on in the trenches which is far more eye opening than books that eventually begin to numb us with horror and blood. This book is refreshing and incredibly moving to read and a fantastic sequel to 'Memoirs of a fox hunting man'.

Fascinating account
I've read and re-read this book on and off for the past 20 years and it still never fails to move me. Sassoon offers us a window on life 90 years ago that has scarcely been matched (especially when taken in conjunction with the first book Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man). Incidentally, to find out more about the real events that inspired Sassoon to write, read "The War The Infantry Knew" by Captain J C Dunn (Sassoon's contemporary in the 2nd Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers and known as "Munro" in the book under discussion), in which Sassoon figures and which also contains an unedited first draft of one of the chapters from "Memoirs of an Infantry Officer". As the last old soldiers from the Great War die, it's worth reading this book just to remember what they went through.

Good read, enjoyable
I had previously found this author by accident previously with the book "Memoirs of a Fox Hunting Man" which I found a highly enjoyable. The decision to read this sequel was obvious and as I suspected it gave a highly interesting and enjoyable read. Fantastic! I would recommend this to anyone (and don't forget the first book).