Among the earliest realistic depictions of trench warfare, this novel is
based on author Henri Barbusse's World War I combat experiences. The
journal-like anecdotes portray daily life amid a squad of French
volunteers after their country's invasion by Germany. The soldiers are
workers, farmers, and tradesmen from different regions of France. They
emerge as individuals, with families, good traits and bad, hopes, and
fears. Their tedious days in fetid trenches are punctuated by terrifying
battles and the threats of poison gas, artillery bombardment, sniper
attacks, and machine-gun fire.
Under Fire received French literature's prestigious Prix Goncourt for
fiction in 1916 and drew both acclaim and criticism for its harsh
realism. A century later, it remains a compelling and psychologically
revealing work that exposes the horror, the loss, and the
incomprehensible nature of war, even to its participants. Barbusse's
wartime ordeals led to his lifelong pacifism, and his novel ranks among
the first and most insightful indictments of imperialist warfare.