The Wars (Penguin Modern Classics Edition)

Grieved by the death of his older sister Rowena, and seeking escape from the stifling confines of Victorian society, nineteen-year-old Robert Ross enlists in the Canadian army to try and absolve himself of the guilt and grief he carries with him. Thrust into the world of war, in all its cruelty and death, Ross fights to cope with his deeply troubled psyche and, in a final act of desperation, prove his commitment to life.

Set in World War I amidst carnage and corpses, blood and nightmares, The Wars is a harrowing, psychological novel of a young man's quest to survive emotional and physical warfare.