Possibly the best book on soldiers of the Great War, written by Manning, an ex infantryman himself. He captures the humdrum, fear, ignorance and sometimes the beauty of conscript soldiering exquisitely.

Originally issued in a censored form (the book cover above) with the visceral language of men in battle completely excised.

His descriptions of the life on and behind the front line have a descriptive power that are second to none. A unique book that captures the time, place and events of the lives of a battalion of conscript English soldiers going about their daily work.

If you have soldiered and fought anywhere, and wished you'd written it down but didn't, this book is for you. If you haven't, download this, and be taken back into smokey dugouts, tiny French estaminets, and listen to soldiers talk. A real time capsule of a book.