Campaign diary of a French officer

In this intimate wartime journal, a young French lieutenant records his first months on the Western Front with a dispassionate eye. Fresh from university life at the École Normale Supérieure, he is thrust into the bleak, mud‑soaked trenches of Champagne, where skirmishes and the relentless churn of earth dominate each day. The entries capture the raw texture of camp routines, the sting of artillery, and the quiet moments when the forest of Argonne briefly awakens the senses.

On the eve of the Artois offensive in early May, the diary shifts to the tension of preparing for a massive assault, culminating in a sudden, harrowing encounter that leaves him severely wounded just yards from the enemy line. His terse, unvarnished notes convey both the physical pain and the stark clarity that war imposes on a mind accustomed to literature. Listeners gain a rare glimpse into the lived experience of a generation whose youthful idealism was tested in the mud and fire of the Great War.