Neo-realist novel, set in the American Civil War. The story is told from the point of view of a recruit going to his first battle. Everything is seen through the eyes of the soldier, his thoughts and feelings; the vision is the one of a simple man who faces death, not the one of strategists, generals or historians.
Before the battle, the soldier agonizes thinking if he'll have the required courage, how he'll react in front of the enemy. He stands firm on the first shock, but then goes back to the rearguard, just to see his comrades wounded and dying. Attacked by a soldier in panic, he returns to his regiment as wounded in combat, and since then acts as a man of value.
The book is a novelty by the realism of the scenes, the terrors of battle seen by himself, the passions of the simple man so well described, and the transformation of a fearful recruit into a veteran who despises danger and death.