Wow! I never expected to enjoy this short read. I picked it up secondhand somewhere because it was different - different I mean that the pages were really really white and the print was a good size and it was double spaced. It is an advance uncorrect proof, so I no idea whether the final copy had more pages or less. Great read though.
Anyway this is the write up -
Grief stricken by the realisation that his wife no longer loves him, timid, self-effacing Paul Peachy enlists as a private in the army in 1918, and lives Milwaukee for the trenches of WWI France. When his company captures the infamous German spy Harry Stroller, Peachy - who speaks fluent German - is called upon to interrogate him. The next day, after a night spent in conversation with the spy, Peachy himself is captured by the enemy in No Man's Land, having lost his nerve during an attack and veered off into a wood. He is about to be shot when, inspired in extremis, he hits on the idea of impersonating Stroller (whose identity is so secret that almost no Germans have seen him). Discovering resources of courage and wit he never knew he possessed, Peachy carries off his imposture with style and is feted as a hero by his German hosts. Always aware that discovery must be around the corner, he nevertheless falls in love with Annie Breton, a French prostitute, with who he experiences a few final days of happiness before things take the inevitable turn for the worse.
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