I was moved to tears by this novel. In fact, it’s so beautifully written that I cannot recommend it highly enough.

The flashbacks to his life before the war are so beautiful in their simplicity that you can’t help but hope the best for the young soldier. I also like the fact that when describing his life back home, it’s not told through rose tinted glasses. All the flaws and regrets are revealed.

The descriptions of his feelings and of the fighting itself are spot on. With such great writing, there was no need at all for melodrama and this novel is all the better for it. Morpurgo even manages to stay away from the clichés that most military writers fall in to and that’s a welcome relief.

The way he describes the young soldiers as being little more than cannon fodder is told well in that none of it is over the top at all and makes you feel like you are really there. All in all, a brilliant tale of life at the front that should serve as a warning against going to war unless absolutely necessary.