This is a rediscovered
- & controversial
- classic of war literature. It is 1915. Jean Dartemont is just a young man. He is not a rebel, but neither is he awed by authority & when he`s called up & given only the most rudimentary training, he refuses to follow his platoon. Instead, he is sent to Artois, where he experiences the relentless death & violence of the trenches. His reprieve finally comes when he is wounded, evacuated & hospitalised. The nurses consider it their duty to stimulate the soldiers` fighting spirit, & so ask Jean what he did at the front. His reply? `I was afraid.` First published in 1930, ” Fear” is both graphic & clear-eyed in its depiction of the terrible experiences of soldiers during the First World War.