Birdsong

This was not an easy read. It goes into horrific detail about the suffering of the soldiers in the first world war. Not in terms of statistics, but with a painful account of one man and the people he interacted with. Faulks does it very well, which makes it all the more painful. And a good thing too; this is not the sort of war story that glorifies violence, but prose that makes you understand the inhumanity of warfare. All the time whilst I was reading it, I was thinking of the front in Ukraine.
Like many books, this one covers different time periods. I am often a bit confused in books with flashbacks, loosing track of when I am. This book does that much better, large sections clearly set in different times with no possibilities for confusion. Thank goodness.

Well written story of a British soldier a bit before and during the war.

Well written with interesting insights into the inner workings of that unique war which was the first one done with modern mechanized instruments of destruction.

In my opinion worth the read just for that.