What, if any, are the similarities between the great novels of past wars, such as Somerset Maugham’s The Hero (the Boer War), Ford Madox Ford’s Parade’s End (WWI), and Evelyn Waugh’s The Sword of Honor Trilogy (WWII)? And is there a connection between these wartime experiences and our current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan?
As a veteran of the recent Iraq War, I found myself haunted by these novels not because of how our response to war has changed, but because the experiences of troops returning from battlefields in the Cape and Verdun when compared to those of Baghdad and Helmand matches with a startling sameness.
It would be a mistake to dismiss the novels by Waugh, Ford and Maugham as interchangeable. Each approaches war differently. Waugh uses his trademark irony and wry humour.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in