This work investigates the personal and psychological impact of the First World War on the individual soldier through the lens of the author's own combat experiences. Charles Edmund Carrington, a veteran of the conflict, utilizes his background as a historian and participant to reconstruct the reality of trench warfare. He argues that the war fundamentally altered the social and political landscape of the twentieth century by reshaping the consciousness of an entire generation of men.

Historians and military scholars frequently cite this text as a significant primary source for understanding the lived experience of the British soldier during the Great War. Readers often note the balance between the author's scholarly detachment and the visceral nature of his personal recollections.