The Soldier's Song
Alan Monaghan2010

Stephen is a gifted mathematician, earning a scholarship to Trinity College, but when the First World War breaks out, he enrolls through the university as an officer in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, much to the disgust of his nationalist brother.
The story follows Stephen through training to the hell of Gallipoli, where he and his men fight against the Turks. Evacuated as one of the walking wounded, Stephen finds himself back in Dublin just in time for the Easter Rising. As an officer in the British Army, he's on the opposing side to his brother, Joe.
But war is hell and Alan Monaghan paints a visceral picture of it. The battle scenes are brutal, the mundanity of trench life horrific, the loss of life, limbs and sanity heart-wrenching. Stephen Ryan is a solid character, holding the tale together. He's a man who gets on with what he has to do, even when every fibre of his being screams against the senselessness of it all.