As it's set in the trenches in WWI, it's not exactly the most cheerful thing and it's easy to predict what happens but I still found it to be a very enjoyable read. The narrative covers the battalion's bloody initiation at Loos, its role in the fighting on the Somme at Guillemont and Delville Wood and during the Third Battle of Ypres, then the part it played in the desperate defence against the German 1918 offensives and its contribution to the Allied advance to victory. The opening vignette of an officer drying out a sock over a candle, the greeting of the new boy (Raleigh) with a glass of whisky and the bitter outcry when it’s discovered there’s no pepper – all these rank as authentic touches, and his dialogue was almost a form of faithful reportage. Sherriff presents an authentic depiction of how soldiers externalise the internal conflict they are facing, from those who feel ashamed, to those who believe that death or denial is better than facing the reality of yet another attack. Though relatively limited in both length and layout, Journey's End remains a profound and thought-provoking portrayal of the psychological strain and mind-numbing monotony of the First World War.

A review of the play is laid in on the next blank page, opposite the opening scence (leaving a similar ghost). I was going to give this particular book/play three stars, but on deeper reflection, I'm going with four. Apparently Sherriff originally wanted to title it Suspense or Waiting, which are actually better titles in some ways.Lice, dirt, vermin, dysentery, battle fatigue/shell shock, trench foot, trench mouth, mud, snow, heat and rain were some of the other odds they faced besides the enemy. In Spring of 1918, a handful of British officers rooted in a trench while awaiting an offensive by the Boche share a lifetime of dreams, fears, and conflicted emotions during 48 hours preceding a fateful attack. Dialog is brisk and concrete, lacking lyrical passages, brooding monologues, or detailed recaps of off-stage events.

He’s managed to get himself posted under the command of Dennis Stanhope, who was a family friend, a few years older, and Raleigh’s hero growing up. From its initial twelve-week season at the Comedy Theatre from January 2004, it transferred to the Playhouse Theatre and the Duke of York's Theatre, finally closing on 18 February 2005. Laurence Olivier starred as Stanhope in the first performance of Journey's End in 1928; the play was an instant stage success and remains a remarkable anti-war classic. I imagine that much of this comes from the author’s personal experience on the frontline during World War One, and I believe this influence is what makes Journey’s End so sensitive and successful.Perhaps most fascinating is the psychological identification Sherriff must have felt with the disintegrating Stanhope and to a lesser extent the demoralised Hibbert, who pretends to have neuralgia. Stanhope is the commander and I don't blame him for drinking too much because 90% of the commanders (in France and Britain) were drunk almost everyday. During the Second World War, productions were staged by members of the Royal Natal Carbineers at El Khatatba, Egypt (January 1944); and by British prisoners in Changi Prison, Singapore (February 1943); at Tamarkan, Thailand, a Japanese labour camp on the Burma Railway (July 1943); in Stalag 344, near Lamsdorf, Germany (July 1944); and in Campo P. They all appear to be enjoying themselves until Hibbert is annoyed when Stanhope tells him to go to bed, and he tells Stanhope to go to bed instead, then Stanhope suddenly becomes angry and begins to shout at Hibbert, and tells him to clear off and get out.

Sherriff had trouble getting Journey's End produced in the West End, writing that "Every management in London had turned the play down. The two soldiers admit to each other that they feel exactly the same way, and are struggling to cope with the stresses that the war is putting on them. Despite the presence of Sherriff and other notable individuals, the 9th East Surrey was in many ways typical of the southern Kitchener battalions, and Michael Lucas's account of its service provides a fascinating contrast with the northern Pals battalions whose story has been more often told.What they encountered was an entrenched position as two opposing sides faced each other across a muddy desolate no man's land.