The Deserters

You don’t have to look too far to find tales of ordinary soldiers in World War II, but stories from deserters? This was a story I did not expect and had not seen handled elsewhere.

I thought Glass brought the reader into the increasingly fragile minds of the young men on the battlefield, showing how the horror of what they saw weighed on them and how some pressed on while others could not.

I often say I want a book to put me into the boots of the soldier on the field – but maybe not these soldiers!

Until I read this book, I knew nothing about men who broke down in battle and were unable to fight on or deserted. It is a topic that is seldom covered in hero-driven war literature or films, depicted as cowardice and still having some taint of shame.

Charles Glass uses military records and personal accounts, including detailed descriptions of battlefront incidents, to paint a picture of what it is to face the terror of war and the debilitating unpredictability of not knowing which bullet has your name on it.

Across WWI and WW2, he uses case studies to take the… show more.