Comrades-In-Arms : The World War I Memoir of Captain Henri De Lecluse, Count De Trevoedal [Hardcover]

Henri De Lecluse (Author), Roy E. Sandstrom (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 1998

Comrades-In-Arms is a powerful and passionate account by a French cavalry officer of daily life on the Western Front from January 1915 to August 1916. Lécluse commanded an elite cavalry unit during campaigns in Artois, Champagne, and Alsace. He regarded the men who served under him as comrades and heroes, and the memoir was written to memorialize those who had fallen in combat.

Beautifully written and extremely moving, Lécluse's memoir consists of thirty-three individual chapters resembling short stories in form and devoted to descriptions of artillery bombardments, raids on enemy trenches, grisly atrocities, night patrols gone awry, the deaths of beloved comrades, and battlefields strewn with bodies. There are chapters devoted to rivers of mud flowing in the trenches, ruined villages, stately chateaux, descrated churches, the agonizing death of a black African soldier, a winter in Alsace, the murder of a pet bull-terrier, and fleeting moments of pleasure and escape amidst the nightmare of combat. This artful narrative will appeal to readers interested in military history and to those who enjoy beautifully written stories based on the daily lives of common soldiers.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Capt. Henri de Lecluse, a French aristocrat, was recalled to the army in 1914 at the age of 46. He commanded an elite cavalry unit in the campaigns of 1914, 1915, and 1916 in northern France; nearly annihilated, his cavalry squadron was reformed as infantry. After two years of horror in the trenches, de Lecluse, then 49, was deemed too old for combat and transferred to the rear. His recently discovered memoirs are unlike anything written by veterans of World War I?not a diary but a collection of 37 individual chapters devoted to descriptions of artillery bombing raids, night patrols, atrocities, deaths of friends, battlefields strewn with bodies, and mud, mud, mud. This powerful and passionate account of the Western front is brilliantly written by a man who, in later life, emigrated to the United States and became a professor of French literature at Grinell University. Essential for all World War I collections.?Stanley Itkin, Hillside P.L., New Hyde Park, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 228 pages
• Publisher: Kent State Univ Pr (November 17, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873386086
• ISBN-13: 978-0873386081
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,019,161 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.