"Well, you might not know this place but I'm sure you won't forget it. You're off to an area known as The Somme. Now, attention. Left turn. Quick march." Their ambitions to experience more than their quiet village life and to secure the future of their country leads them into horrors that none of them could ever have envisaged. The novel captures to the full the grim experiences of ordinary, unassuming young men blinded by patriotism. Bill's emotive and gripping narration carries us from his late teens, as he experiences degradations of trench warfare, through to his sunset years that are wracked with guilt of survival, telling his traumatic and brutal stories with astonishing modesty. Told with incredible feeling, and in a very personal style, The Brightest Star is a fascinating journey through one man's ups and downs. Bill shares his laughter and tragedies, and illustrates how fighting in a war shapes a life and a soul. This is a moving commemoration and lasting tribute to an incredible people who fought in the "war to end all wars", and who are sadly disappearing over time. Their kind were unique.