Publisher's Synopsis
Fifteen year old Thomas Elkin engages in the turmoil of the First World War. Accepting the blame for the death of his recently conscripted brother, Elkin switches identity with his dead sibling and enters into the conflict. His burning ambition is to die a glorious death in his brother's name. Believing that, in fully submitting to the reality of war is atoning for his sins, he faces all the attendant horrors with a steel will and a poignant resignation. His personal conflict sees itself mirrored in the wider events and soon the two are inextricably linked, raising issues of mortality, morality, guilt and faith.
