Bourne is a private fighting on the front. Self-reliant and articulate, he is under pressure to accept a commission, but he prefers to be among the ranks, drawn into the universal struggle for survival in a world gone mad. An attempt to understand the inexplicable, Manning's moving and powerful work is unlike any other First World War novel in its depiction of the life of the ordinary British soldier, which was as much concerned with drill, transportation, rest and relaxation, as the trauma and brutalities of combat. Its use of swearing and its highly disturbing realism give The Middle Parts of Fortune a startling contemporaneity.

Author Biography

Frederic Manning was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1882. Prevented by asthma from attending the usual educational institutions, he was taught largely at home, and at the age of sixteen was sent to England. In 1914 he joined the army, and as a soldier in the ranks ultimately fought in the terrible battles on the Somme. In 1929 he published, privately and anonymously, The Middle Parts of Fortune, his novel about military life.