Charles Yale Harrison

Generals Die in Bed: 100th Anniversary Edition Charles Yale Harrison Special edition

"A burning, breathing, historic document." -- The New York Times

As the world marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, the best-selling 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.

As an eager new recruit, the narrator is catapulted into a nightmarish scenario of mud and fear, rat- and lice-infested decay, and vicious, wholesale killing. One by one, his friends are ripped apart by the constant barrage of artillery shells. Staring into the eyes of a German soldier just before he thrusts his bayonet, he realizes that like him, he is only a young, terror-stricken boy caught up in the insanity of war.

Regular leave takes the soldiers away momentarily from the front where they scramble for wine, women, or whatever else will help them forget that they have to go back. A serious leg wound buys the narrator walking papers home, but he returns a disillusioned, cynical, and angry man appalled at the senselessness of it all.

Often compared to All Quiet on the Western Front and A Farewell to Arms, Generals Die in Bed was hailed on publication as "the best of the war books" by the New York Evening Standard. With veterans of WWI no longer here to tell their tales, this book stands as a lasting monument to the horror of war.

"The importance of this book... cannot be overstated." -- The Globe and Mail

"This is a powerful literary work that deserves an audience beyond young adults." -- ForeWord Magazine

"The best novel about Canadians in the Great War." -- Professor J. L. Granatstein, former director, Canadian War Museum

"... stands as a reminder of the insanity of using warfare to solve political problems, of sacrificing human beings for ideological purposes." -- CM Reviews