Copse 125

Copse 125 is Ernst Junger's account of a few weeks on the Western Front in 1918. Spent in the vicinity of the notorious wood known simply as Copse 125, it is a vivid and sometimes brutal account of trench warfare. Some of the author's opinions and views are questionable, but the book is worth reading just for the accurate and entirely unsentimental view of industrialised warfare. One particular incident, in which the author cold bloodedly stalks and then shoots a British sentry is very disturbing and highlights the horror and utter futility of war. Not an easy book to read, and not without its faults, but well worth the effort.