When World War I broke out in August 1914, Canadians rushed to join the army thinking they would fight for King and country and be home by Christmas. A Brave Soldier tells the story of Frank, a young man whose initial enthusiasm turns to bitter disillusionment. The especially brutal conditions that faced the soldiers in the First World War is portrayed here, in a spare but remarkably beautiful style. No soldier lucky enough to survive came away from this experience without the realization that this is nothing romantic, glorious or exciting about a real war. And no reader can come away from this book without a sense of the tragic waste and futility that characterized this "war to end all wars."