George Sherston – the “I” of the book - is a shy, sensitive, and rather lonely boy living on the Kent/Sussex border in the early years of the 20th century. His great loves are sports, horses, and hunting, and the story is told through his gentle and comic adventures at point-to-point races or village cricket matches in a privileged pre-War England. The picture he paints of the Garden of England in the age of pony carts, bicycles and very slow trains is enchanting.

Rich in historical detail and resonance, Sassoon’s semi-autobiographical novel is also a poignant coming-of-age tale; with innocence and naivety abruptly crushed by the outbreak of War. George has to face a bleakly different world when he joins up and goes to the Front, to the mud and death and din of trench-life. Bit by bit it robs him of practically everything he values in life and amidst the carnage, he loses some of his dearest friends.