The Middle Parts of Fortune
  • Published: 28 May 2014
  • ISBN: 9780141393414
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 272
  • RRP: $24.99
Categories:

The Middle Parts of Fortune

Somme And Ancre, 1916

Formats & editions
EBook
5 Jun 2014
EBook
6 Feb 2014
Paperback
28 May 2014
Paperback
1 Apr 2014
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A moving, raw and powerful novel about fighting on the front, re-issued to tie in with the WW1 centenary

Bourne is a private fighting on the front. He is under pressure to accept a commission and become an officer, but he prefers to be among the ranks, drawn into the universal struggle for survival in a world gone mad.

Manning's startling work is unlike any other First World War novel in its portrayal of the lives of ordinary British soldiers: the trauma of the Somme; the moments of bloodlust; the camaraderie, rivalry, alcohol and boredom. Considered obscene for its language and previously published in censored form as Her Privates We, The Middle Parts of Fortune appears here in its raw, unexpurgated version.
  • Published: 28 May 2014
  • ISBN: 9780141393414
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 272
  • RRP: $24.99
Categories:

About the author

Frederic Manning

Frederic Manning was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1882. Prevented by asthma from attending the usual educational institutions, he was taught largely at home, and at the age of sixteen was sent to England. In 1914 he joined the army, and as a soldier in the ranks ultimately fought in the terrible battles on the Somme. In 1929 he published, privately and anonymously, The Middle Parts of Fortune, his novel about military life.

Praise for The Middle Parts of Fortune

Outstanding. Almost certainly the finest work of its kind to emerge from the war

Max Hastings, Guardian

I read it over once each year to remember how things really were

Ernest Hemingway

The finest novel to come out of the First World War

William Boyd
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