Writes a friend:

Have just re-read The New Book of Martyrs by French novelist Georges Duhamel. Duhamel was an army surgeon throughout the four years of World War I; this volume was published in the third year of that war. The author later became one of the preeminent novelists of the last century but, as is not infrequently the case, one not valued at his true worth. The New Book of Martyrs, linked below, was based on his direct experience treating war wounded on the Western Front. It is written with great gentleness and compassion, but I cannot imagine anyone reading the book, especially the chapter titled Sacrifice, who reading or hearing the word war isn’t overcome with horror and revulsion.