title: Generals Die In Bed: A Story from the Trenches
author: Charles Harrison
description: The author, an American working in Canada, served with the Royal Montreal Regiment during the war. His fictionalized account of experiences in the vermin-filled trenches of Europe does not glorify the experience. First published in 1930, the book leaves no doubt that combat was brutal, conditions severe, and recruits not likely to die in the comfort of a bed. This new edition includes an introduction that places the book in context, plus a map of the front and archival photographs.... The writing is a terse staccato, echoing gunfire and pounding hearts, and reinforcing tension.... Period photographs add to the book's gritty, poignant reality. This powerful literary work deserves an audience beyond young adults. (Linda Salisbury <i>ForeWord</i>)<br /><br />A classic... an almost clinical account of war's brutalizing effects. (Brian Bethune <i>Macleans</i> 2004-11-08)<br /><br />A stark and poignant novel. (<i>Canadian Children's Book News</i>)
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  [Contents](0671318268_toc.htm)
  
  ![](0671318268.jpg)  
  
  # **CHAPTER ONE**
  
  Sergeant Adib Julian, Third Platoon, Bravo Company of The Empress' Own, opened
  his eyes, looked around the inside of his cramped, one-man bivy tent, and
  frowned sleepily. Something was different, but he couldn't tell what. Whatever
  it was, it hadn't twanged his finely honed survival instincts, which at least
  suggested that no thundering hordes of Mardukan barbarians were likely to come
  charging through the sealed flaps at him, but that sense of change lingered.
  It poked at him, prodding him up out of the depths of slumber, and he checked
  his toot. The implanted computer told him that it wasn't quite dawn, and he
  yawned. There was still time to sleep, so he rolled over, pushing aside a
  pebble in the dirt, and shivered in the cold . . .
  
  His eyes snapped wide, and he unsealed the tent opening and popped out into
  the predawn light like a Terran prairie dog.
  
  