In 1939 Norman is twenty years old, married and the father of one small child. He is having a tough time financially. Naively thinking it will improve his family’s financial situation, he joins the army. He figures that once his six months’ National Service end, he will be twenty-one and can then earn adult wages. This is a good plan that is railroaded only by Britain declaring war against Hitler’s Nazi Germany.

Norman’s six months in the army turns into seven years where he makes friends who pull him through the toughest of the war years. Norman and his buddies survive the bloodbath at Dunkirk. After being posted overseas for four years, the men battle homesickness in the sweltering heat of India. They go from monsoons to jungles and think it will never end.

After the atomic bomb ends the war, Norman faces more uncertainty. How will he fit in back home? How will things go with his wife?

A Corporal’s War is a thought-provoking and sometimes tender look at the consequences, both short and long-term, of war. There are many poignant moments in the book, and the narrative is very reader-friendly. History buffs will love it.