This book did for me what I expect from a great book - I had my opinions changed, I learned much and when I finished the book I was sure I would very soon read it again.

The book focuses on a little known part of the First World War - the action in East Africa. But more importantly it focuses on three men in particular and the effect the war has on them - an American trying to run a
successful farm in Kenya and a pair of English brothers whose lives are changed by the conflict.

I will leave the telling of the story to Boyd but urge you to read this and learn, as I did, of the genuine pointlessness of a war (you are given proof in this book rather than people just repeating that well-worn phrase), you learn of the awfulness of the actual fighting itself, you find yourself amazed by the strange way the world reacted to the start of the war and you find yourself
given a sharp reminder of how the separation of war makes a mess of relationships.

This novel should be put alongside other anti-war classics - Catch 22, All Quiet, etc. Read it.