Generals Die In Bed: 100th Anniversary of World War I Special Edition

by Charles Yale Harrison, Wade Davis

Overview

As the world marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, the bestselling novel Generals Die in Bed becomes more relevant than ever. Originally published in 1930, the landmark novel was one of the first to shatter the world’s illusion that war is a glorious endeavor. Instead, this chilling first-hand account brought readers face to face with the brutal, ugly realities of life in the trenches. Often compared to All Quiet on the Western Front and A Farewell to Arms, Generals Die in Bed was described by The New York Times as “a burning, breathing, historic document.” With veterans of WWI no longer here to tell their tales, this book stands as a lasting monument to the horror of war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781554516926
Publisher:	Annick Press, Limited
Publication date:	09/30/2014
Edition description:	Special Edition
Pages:	168
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Charles Yale Harrison was a machine-gunner in the First World War. After being wounded, he was a writer in Montreal and later New York, where he died in 1954.

Wade Davis is a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, and the author of 15 books including Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest.

Editorial Reviews

[Review of previous edition:] The importance of this book ... cannot be overstated.

The Globe and Mail

[Review of previous edition:] A burning, breathing, historic document.

The New York Times

[Review of previous edition:] A classic... an almost clinical account of war's brutalizing effects.

Macleans - Brian Bethune

[Review of previous edition:] The author, an American working in Canada, served with the Royal Montreal Regiment during the war. His fictionalized account of experiences in the vermin-filled trenches of Europe does not glorify the experience. First published in 1930, the book leaves no doubt that combat was brutal, conditions severe, and recruits not likely to die in the comfort of a bed. This new edition includes an introduction that places the book in context, plus a map of the front and archival photographs.... The writing is a terse staccato, echoing gunfire and pounding hearts, and reinforcing tension.... Period photographs add to the book's gritty, poignant reality. This powerful literary work deserves an audience beyond young adults.

ForeWord - Linda Salisbury

[Review of previous edition:] Generals Die in Bed is one of the great documents of the new honesty.

www.ralphmag.org

[Review of previous edition:] Harrison's damning indictment of a war in which generals die in bed while soldiers die in a lousy trench resonates with the impact of his experiences.... From Montreal with recruits celebrating their departure and crowds waving flags and cheering, the scene shifts abruptly to the unspeakable horrors of the trenches. None of his training has prepared the teenage protagonist and narrator (never given a name) for the actuality of the trenches... In stark and powerful prose, the narrator chronicles his experiences, admitting he can find nothing to appease his terror.... Although the narrative is often abrupt and stark, the rhythm of language effectively communicates the ugliness and harsh reality that is the lot of soldiers on the front lines.... Generals Die in Bed is no gentle treatise on war; it stands as a reminder of the insanity of using warfare to solve political problems, of sacrificing human beings for ideological purposes. Highly Recommended.

Canadian Materials - Darleen Golk

[Review of previous edition:] A stark and poignant novel.

Canadian Children's Book News

Charles Harrison served as a machine gunner for the Canadian forces in World War I. After arriving home safely, he converted some of the gruesome acts he witnessed into this compelling novel. It tells the war story of an unnamed enlisted Canadian soldier—his anonymity means he could be any Allied soldier or young combatant in the trenches. Although the book is told from the perspective of a Canadian, Harrison’s poignant dedication speaks to a broader empathy: “To the bewildered youths—British, Australian, Canadian, and German—who were killed in that wood a few miles beyond Amiens on August 8, 1918, I DEDICATE THIS BOOK.” Throughout the narrative, the author’s use of the present tense gives the war atrocities immediacy and authenticity and highlights the horrible pointlessness of war for its combatants. Generals Die In Bed also speaks to class issues: young enlisted men are sent off to kill each other, while generals die at peace in their beds, well behind the front lines. The most pointed scene about class differences occurs when the narrator, injured, is headed home on a hospital train. When a captured enemy German officer is brought onto the train car with the enlisted men, he demands to be moved to the officers’ car—and his request is granted. Originally published in 1930, this 2014 edition commemorates the hundredth anniversary of the start of the Great War. The spare, clear writing speaks to today’s readers, however, and this overlooked classic should stand with the better known World War I titles by Hemingway and Remarque. Reviewer: Anna Foote; Ages 15 to 18.

VOYA, February 2015 (Vol. 37, No. 6) - Anna Foote

Charles Yale Harrison was an American who chose to join the Canadian Army during the First World War As an infantryman Harrison served in the mud, blood, and filthy suffering that was trench warfare in that terrible conflict. Surviving the war Harrison waited until 1929 to write a novel in the tradition of Erich Maria Remarque’s classic All Quiet on the Western Front. The result was Generals Die in Bed, which tells the story of the Canadian soldiers who Harrison served with in the trenches. In telling this story of life on the Western Front, Harrison pulled no punches. Characters die in horrible ways, commit atrocities at the behest of their officers, loot towns, and generally behave the way louse-ridden, desperate men would be expected to act. Harrison did not glorify war in his book but rather depicted it as the anvil of suffering upon which soldiers are beaten. As a result, upon its initial publication Harrison’s book was either loved or hated. Now, one hundred years after the beginning of World War One, Generals Die in Bed has been reprinted as part of the centenary commemoration of a conflict that claimed ten million lives and set the stage for the Second World War. In this slim novel readers will feel the pain and anguish that soldiers in that distant war must have felt. Readers will also experience in their imaginations what it was like to bayonet an enemy, see a friend blown to pieces, and watch the daily suffering that soldiers face. Generals Die in Bed is iconoclastic in nature and a book that mature readers wishing to better understand the “War to end all Wars” would do well to read. Reviewer: Greg M. Romaneck; Ages 14 up.

Children's Literature - Greg M. Romaneck