Book Description
This book describes the astonishing story of a British Army Chaplain who, in 1916, was assigned to the 8th & 9th Devonshire Regiments at the Battle of the Somme. The story, taken from Chaplain E.C. Crosse’s war diaries, which were discovered at the Imperial War Museum in London, paints a riveting picture of his life on the Western Front. This book offers new insights into the history of the period and highlights some of the antecedents to today’s ‘Just War’ Dialogue.
Praise for this book
This beautifully-written book portrays the courage of one committed Christian who contrasts the reality of carnage in the trenches with the idealistic moral crusade at home. Useful lessons are here for both clergy and military as we face the crisis in Iraq.
~ Alan W. Lukens
WW II veteran and American Ambassdor (ret.)
The author, himself a former Padre with US forces, enables us to reflect on the nature of war, not only in relation to the principles of the ‘just war’ but in relation to those principles in the light of Padres Crosse’s illuminating experience. It was thought this would be ‘the war to end all wars’. It was more accurately the war that changed all wars, and MacDonald’s book helps us understand why.
~ Canon Vincent Strudwick
Honorary Fellow, Kellogg College, University of Oxford
Professor of Anglican Theology, Graduate Theological Foundation
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