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A. D. Gristwood
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The Somme: Also Including The Coward (Casemate Classic War Fiction) Kindle Edition

by A. D. Gristwood (Author), H. G. Wells (Foreword) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 out of 5 stars 17 ratings
Two World War I classics: The story of a British soldier enduring the battle in France and a novella starring a man who takes drastic steps to escape the Great War.

The million British dead have left no books behind. What they felt as they died hour by hour in the mud, or were choked horribly with gas, or relinquished their reluctant lives on stretchers, no witness tells. But here is a book that almost tells it. . . . Mr. Gristwood has had the relentless simplicity to recall things as they were; he was as nearly dead as he could be without dying, and he has smelt the stench of his own corruption. This is the story of millions of men—of millions.” —H. G. Wells

In The Somme and its companion The Coward, first published in 1927, the heroics of war and noble self-sacrifice are completely absent, replaced by the gritty realism of life for the ordinary soldier in World War I and an unflinching portrayal of the horrors of war. Written under the guidance of master storyteller H. G. Wells, they are classics of the genre.

Based on A. D. Gristwood’s own wartime experiences, The Somme revolves around a futile attack during the 1916 Somme campaign. On the battlefront, Tom Everitt is wounded and must be moved back through a series of dressing stations to the General Hospital at Rouen. Few other accounts of the war give such an accurate picture of trench life, and The Spectator praised Gristwood’s “very effective writing,” calling The Somme “a book which anyone who was not in the War should read.”

The Coward concerns a man who shoots himself in the hand to escape the chaos during the March 1918 retreat—an offense punishable by death—and is haunted by fear of discovery and self-loathing. Together, these works offer a vivid, immersive view of the First World War and the suffering it inflicted on the men who fought it.
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  1. Print length
    148 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Casemate
  4. Publication date
    August 2, 2016
  5. File size
    3.0 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"The merit [of these stories] lies in their unheroic truthfulness and their accurate memory of detail; they are less a contribution to letters than an addition to the composite testimony against war as it really is."--Time and Tide

About the Author

Arthur Donald Gristwood was born in 1893. He enlisted in 1915, joining the 5th London Regiment. He was later discharged due to injuries. After the war, Gristwood struck up a friendship with H. G. Wells, who was impressed by his writing and encouraged him. Through Well’s influence, the book was published by Jonathan Cape in 1927. He committed suicide in 1933.

Herbert George Wells (1866 – 1946) was an English author now best known for his science-fiction novels, which include "The Time Machine", "The First Men in the Moon" and "The Invisible Man".

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01HFUTQ48
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Casemate (August 2, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 2, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3.0 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 148 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 17 ratings

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A. D. Gristwood

A. D. Gristwood

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4.4 out of 5 stars
17 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Matthew Kluk
    5.0 out of 5 stars Superfast delivery
    Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2022
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    Great book delivered quickly! Thank you!
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  • Kindle Customer
    3.0 out of 5 stars Did not read
    Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2020
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    Read a few chapters lost interest
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  • Douglas E. Libert
    5.0 out of 5 stars WW1 fiction truer than non-fiction.written by a man in the trenches.
    Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2007
    of the 2 ww1 fiction works i,ve read,All Quiet on the Western Front and Johnny Got his Gun,I would have to say that this book is of the same quality and genre. It presents the point of view from the "grunt' in the trenches.These are not the kind of books a person would read for enjoyment,although a person could make a case for it.They are more the historical type that can make a more humane person for the read.The Coward was really interesting,it was about a British WW1 soldier who deliberately wounds himself to escape from the trenches on the eve of a major German assault in 1918.He tries to rationalize his "cowardice" but the letting down of his comrades haunts him thoughout the book and you leave the book realizing his desertion will haunt him throughout his life.At the field hospital he expresses jealousy of his comrads in the trenches,but not enough to want to return.He rehashes then rationalizes,condemned like Sisyphus,only instead of having push the boulder to the top and have it fall again,he must feel the guilt while he cashes a wounded soldier pension check.And so on!
    2 people found this helpful
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