The Middle Parts of Fortune: Somme and Ancre, 1916
Author(s): Frederic Manning
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 as Her Privates We, The Middle Parts of Fortune appears here in its raw, unexpurgated version.
General Information
- :
- : Penguin Books
- : Penguin Books
- : 0.202
- : 01 April 2014
- : United Kingdom
- : 01 June 2014
- : books
Other Specifications
- : Frederic Manning
- : Paperback
- : 1
- : 823.912
- : 272
More About The Product
Outstanding. Almost certainly the finest work of its kind to emerge from the war -- Max Hastings Guardian I read it over once each year to remember how things really were -- Ernest Hemingway The finest novel to come out of the First World War -- William Boyd
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.
