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GRISTWOOD (A.D.)
The Somme, including also The Coward.
1st Ed., 189pp. Cape.
1927
#62303
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![[HLMainPic]](booksThumbs/62303.jpg "Click on the left or right of the image for more images")
The first piece describes an offensive in which the narrator is wounded, & his journey down to base by hospital train; the second the story of a SIW who evades detection. Intro. by H.G.Wells & an interesting commentary in Falls: "The Somme describes an offensive during the battle of that name, in which the narrator is wounded, & his subsequent journey down to the base in a hospital train... told in great detail with considerable skill. The Coward is the story of a man who deliberately shot himself to get away from the line, & managed to escape the consequences. The writer does not tell us that he sympathises with this person, but he allows no hint of reprobation or contempt to escape him. The strangest part of the book is an introduction by Mr H.G. Wells recommending it to boys with a taste for soldiering. It seems more likely to make militarists of them rather than pacifists as he desires; for the average boy is likely to declare that if the loathesome hero of The Coward is the typical pacifist he himself will be the exact opposite." Orig. rust-brownd cloth, gilt, little splitting, overall about VG & very scarce original edition. See illustration on our website.
£65
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