This book gave me an insight to the warfare around Ypres and especially for Polygon Wood, where a Great Uncle fought. Much was said and unsaid about this uncle and of the suffering of returned soldiers. While the book presents facts and historical information, it was written 80 years after the events and that perspective provided me with a sense of the meaning (or really not) of the warfare, the political systems of the time. It made me wonder how these people could possibly risk their lives to achieve – nothing.

Read it if you dare.

The chapter on Polygon Wood (Page 125) gives an idea of what my Great Uncle went through.