As I read this book, particularly the long and agonising section describing what it was like to be under fire, I couldn't help thinking about the early editors who found it necessary to tone down the swearwords, apparently under the impression that these would be more shocking than the great obscenity of the war itself.

My only disappointment with this book was the final chapter, which jarred with me. It didn't ring true after the stunning realism of the rest of the book.

Definitely a must read for anyone who wants to try to understand the horrors of the Great War. The matter-of-fact tone in which these horrors are described brings them home far more strongly than any histrionics could ever do.