The Challenge of the Dead; A Vision of the War and the Life of the Common Soldier in France, Seen Two Years Afterwards Between August and November, 19

by Stephen Graham

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1921 edition. Excerpt: ... The curious come for an hour or so from Ostende but do not spend the night. There is a sense of emptiness and tragedy which cannot be dispelled. Some sort of unit of British troops does duty instead of police and is posted to various guards, the sentries being however without rifles. The soldiers in their "sixth year" impart a certain liveliness. A party of them at night coming down the middle of the street singing One word of thine, Tell the world you arc mine, And the world will be dearer to me in a full-throated chorus wakens echoes from dark corners of the ruins. There is music and dancing in favoured taverns. The returned Belgians do not perhaps belong naturally to the atmosphere of the sublime. They love beer and sociality. They will make their money by some means--they are not too particular how. Civilised ethics do not rule in these places where war has worked its will. Strolling along at dusk past the Cloth Hall tower a bright-eyed Belgian wolf asks you who you are. "C'est triste, n'est ce pas?" says he, pointing to the ruins. Triste is what they are not. The Belgian is from Poperinghe. It is very dull there now. Tons les soldats sont partis. Also the mamzelles. Pas de jig-a-jig. " Like a glass of beer? " asks the Belgian. A spare woman of thirty serves two glasses of ale at a table outside a hotel. She seems to speak English for preference. " You.want someone to sleep with?-' asks the man from Poperinghe. " No, I sleep with no man." "Not married?" "No, and plenty time yet, and I shan't marry an English when I do. The English are all false." The man from Poperinghe seems taken aback. At a further table a curious scene is being enacted. Here are sitting a pioneer corporal and a sergeant, both wearing the 1914 ribbon. They have...

42 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1921

About the author

Stephen Graham (1884 - 1975) was a British journalist, travel-writer, essayist and novelist. His best-known books recount his travels around pre-revolutionary Russia and his journey to Jerusalem with a group of Russian Christian pilgrims. Most of his works express his sympathy for the poor, for agricultural labourers and for tramps, and his distaste for industrialisation.

Librarian's note: There is more than one author on Goodreads with this name.

List of books: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen...