''Sherston's Progress'', published in 1936, is the final book of

Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Loraine Sassoon (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World ...

's semi-autobiographical trilogy. It is preceded by '' Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man'' and '' Memoirs of an Infantry Officer''.

Synopsis

The book starts with Sherston's arrival at 'Slateford War Hospital' in Edinburgh (based on Craiglockhart War Hospital) for shell-shocked soldiers. He has not been wounded, but has refused to continue fighting, causing himself a little temporary notoriety in England. The famous neurologist W. H. R. Rivers is a major character in the book (and had a profound influence on Sassoon in real life). After many sessions in which he gets to know himself and his motives better, he decides his only option is to ask to return to the front line. Sherston is sent to an army base in Ireland (where he is introduced to 'The Mister', an alcoholic fox-hunting enthusiast), then to Palestine, and finally to the Western Front in France. There, as captain of a company, he describes his fellow officers and his men, his state of mind and his admiration for his servant (Bond). Early in his posting at the front, he decides to go out with Corporal Davies to attack a German machine-gun post with

Mills bomb "Mills bomb" is the popular name for a series of British hand grenades which were designed by William Mills. They were the first modern fragmentation grenades used by the British Army and saw widespread use in the First and Second World Wars ...

s. On their way back, he is shot in the head by (Sergeant Wickham) of his own company, an experienced soldier who is unaware that the two were still in no-man's-land, and mistakes him for a German. The wound is not serious and he is initially reluctant to be sent to recover in London, where Rivers visits him in hospital:

External links

* 1936 British novels Roman à clef novels British autobiographical novels Faber & Faber books History of mental health in the United Kingdom Books by Siegfried Sassoon Books about mental health {{1930s-autobio-novel-stub