Written just after the heat of the battle and in the language of the
time, this is the personal account of an ordinary soldier's experience
of one of the most horrific series of battles ever fought. Fleurbaix,
Bapaume, Beaumetz, Lagincourt, Bullecourt, The Menin Road,
Villers-Bretonneux, Peronne and Mont St. Quentin. Downing describes the
mud, the rats, the constant pounding of the guns, the deaths, the
futility, but also the humour and the heroism of one of the most
compelling periods in world history. His writing is spare but vivid, and
presents a graphic description of an ordinary person's struggle to
survive.