Description

Book Synopsis

A searing, unflinchingly realist novel about life at war, written during the First World War

''Men are made to be husbands, fathers - men, in short! Not animals that hunt one another down''
Under Fire follows the fortune of a French battalion during the First World War. For this group of ordinary men, thrown together from all over France and longing for home, war is simply a matter of survival, and the arrival of their rations, a glimpse of a pretty girl or a brief reprieve in hospital is all they can hope for.

Based directly on Henri Barbusse''s experiences of the trenches, Under Fire is the most famous French novel of the First World War, starkly evoking the mud, stench and monotony of an eternal battlefield. It is also a powerful critique of inequality between ranks, the incomprehension of those who have not experienced battle, and of war itself.



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One of the most influential of all war novels * History Today *

Under Fire Penguin Modern Classics

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    A Paperback / softback by Henri Barbusse

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      Book details

      Publisher Penguin Random House Group
      Imprint Penguin Classics
      Published 17 March 2014
      ISBN-13 9780141393438
      978-0141393438
      ISBN-10 0141393432

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      A searing, unflinchingly realist novel about life at war, written during the First World War

      ''Men are made to be husbands, fathers - men, in short! Not animals that hunt one another down''
      Under Fire follows the fortune of a French battalion during the First World War. For this group of ordinary men, thrown together from all over France and longing for home, war is simply a matter of survival, and the arrival of their rations, a glimpse of a pretty girl or a brief reprieve in hospital is all they can hope for.

      Based directly on Henri Barbusse''s experiences of the trenches, Under Fire is the most famous French novel of the First World War, starkly evoking the mud, stench and monotony of an eternal battlefield. It is also a powerful critique of inequality between ranks, the incomprehension of those who have not experienced battle, and of war itself.



      Trade Review
      One of the most influential of all war novels * History Today *

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