A moving, raw and powerful novel about fighting on the front -'The finest and noblest book of men in war that I have ever read'(Ernest Hemingway)

Bourne is a private fighting on the front. He is under pressure to accept a commission and become an officer, but he prefers to be among the ranks, drawn into the universal struggle for survival in a world gone mad.

Manning's startling work is unlike any other First World War novel in its portrayal of the lives of ordinary British soldiers: the trauma of the Somme; the moments of bloodlust; the camaraderie, rivalry, alcohol and boredom. Considered obscene for its language and previously published in censored form asHer Privates We,The Middle Parts of Fortuneappears here in its raw, unexpurgated version.