Sword Of Honour Trilogy, The

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MEN AT ARMS, OFFICERS AND GENTLEMEN, UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER This trilogy of novels about world war two, largely based on his own experiences as an army officer, is the crowning achievement of Evelyn Waugh's career. The focus of the action is Guy Crouchback, head of an ancient but decayed Catholic family, who at first discovers new purpose in the challenge to defend Christian values against Nazi barbarism, but then gradually finds the complexities and cruelties of war too much for him. Yet, though often sombre, the trilogy is also a brilliant comedy. Peopled by the fantastic figures so familiar from Waugh's early satires, it presents a moving but often hilarious picture of war's consolations and vicissitudes, and there is a tenderness towards the characters which is new in the author's work.