Generals Die in Bed: A Story from the Trenches

Lisa Arsenault is an elementary-school teacher in Ajax, Ontario.

First published in 1928, Generals Die in Bed is a first-person account
of trench warfare in World War I. The narrator is an 18-year-old (at the
outset of the war) American who enlisted with the Canadian army because
the United States had not yet joined the war effort. The book takes us
from his inadequate military training in Montreal, through years of
warfare, to the battle of Amiens in August 1918.

This is a very starkly written book that relies heavily on dialogue
(primarily between the soldiers in the trenches who, of necessity,
forged bonds of interdependence in order to survive) to make its point.
The dialogue does not spare the reader’s sensibilities: the language
is vulgar, coarse, graphic—exactly what one would expect from men
tried nearly beyond endurance. What description there is concentrates on
the horrific conditions of the trenches—the filth, the corpses, the
ever-present rats.

Perhaps intentionally, the book lacks both depth and analysis. For
example, there is little reference to the implied criticism of the
title; one infers that the author is claiming that the rank and file did
the fighting and dying while the brass remained safely behind the lines,
but there is little proof to support that contention.

For those looking for a frank portrayal of the experiences of a group
of soldiers in the trenches of the Western Front, Generals Die in Bed is
recommended.