The Soul of the Soldier: Sketches from the Western Battle-Front by Thomas Tiplady

“The sketches in this book and in my previous one, “The Cross at the Front,” are attempts to show the soul of the soldier serving in France as I have seen it during the year and a half that I have been with him. It is a padre’s privilege and duty to be the voice with which, in public worship, the soldiers speak to God; and through which their last thoughts are borne to their friends at home. He is their voice both when they are sick or wounded, and when they lie silent in the grave. He speaks of their hopes and fears, hardships and heroisms, laughter and tears. As best he may he tries to tell, to those who have a right and a longing to know, how they thought, and how they bore themselves in the great day of trial when all risked their lives and many laid them down.” -Preface