The Forgotten Soldier is one of the best war memoirs I've read. An account of a Guy Sajer, a German soldier who joined the Wehrmacht in 1941- the worst possible timing.

After training, Sajer is assigned to a supply battalion on the Russian front. They arrive just before the German defeat at Stalingrad in 1942.

Sajer is soon transferred to a combat division. The next three years (1942-1945) are a continuous sequence of defeat and bloody retreat. The book overflows with carnage, death and cruelty.

"Ernst", I said. "I'm going to bandage you. Don't cry."

I was insane. Ernst wasn't crying: I was. His coat was covered with blood. With the dressings in my hand, I stared at my friend. He must have been hit in the lower jaw. His teeth were mixed with fragments of bone, and through the gore I could see the muscles of his face contracting, moving what was left of his features.