Baptism by Fire

Selected letters and personal accounts from the Great War

Baptism by fire is a compilation of letters and personal accounts written by British, Irish, American and French soldiers who served in the Great War. Their accounts were selected because they reflect the author’s candidness; they provide rich historical detail of the battlefield conditions. They also touch on the stress and the mental anguish of what it was like being at war. Moreover, there is the undertone of sadness in the letters to a mother and a brother. Also, there are tales of selfless acts of gallantry. Lastly, there is the testament to the cruelty of being a prisoner of war! But most of all you get that sense of the will to survive on the battlefield and the Great War itself!