The latest addition to my website is Stratis Myrivilis‘ εν τάφω (Life in the Tomb). The book is based on Myrtilis’ own experiences iand is the journal rescued from a dead soldier involved in Battle of Monastir during World War I. He is writing to his beloved (letters are censored) and spares us none of the details. We learn of the horrors of trench warfare, including people shot, blown up and injured. We learn of bravery and cpwardice. We learn of desertions and the consequences of deserting. We learn of various illnesses such as scabies and typhus. There is camaraderie including lots of discussions about women. He thinks of his homeland – most of his troop, like Myrtilis, are from Lesbos. The food is grim. The officers are grim. The lice are grim. War is hell. However they are fighting to free Greece from the Ottoman Empire though the opposition is primarily Bulgarian and German and they are fighting with the Serbs and French. Most classic World War I trench novels are set on theWestern front but Myrtilis skilfully shows that the Eastern front was just as bad.