This is the story of one man's secret battle against himself, as he is tested and brought to breaking point, first in Gallipoli, then with his young wife in London, and finally in the trenches of the Western Front. The Secret Battle by A. P. Herbert was first published in 1919, when the Great War was only just over, and few books about that terrible conflict have equalled it in its dignity, accuracy and power. The author fought at Gallipoli and in France , and the novel is imbued with the sights, sounds and smells that he experienced.