The Living Unknown Soldier: A Story of Grief and the Great War

ThisistheremarkablypowerfulandmovingtruestoryofasoldierwholosthismemoryandidentityduringWorldWarI,andofapeopleinmourning,whofoundinhimthesymbolofalostgeneration.ReleasedfromaGermanPOWcampwithnomemoryofhisnameorhispastlifeandnodocumentsordistinguishingmarkstoidentifyhim,thesoldierwasgiventhenameAnthelmeMangin,andsenttoanasylumfortheinsane.WiththeendoftheGreatWar,anewspaperadvertisementplacedinthehopeoffindinghislostfamilyfoundinsteadabereavedmultitudereadytoclaimhimasthefather,son,husbandorbrotherwhohadnevercomehome.Withhumanesympathyandtheskillofanovelist,JeanYvesLeNaourmeticulouslyrecreatesthetwenty-yearcourtbattleswagedovertheLivingUnknownSoldier.Poignant,psychologicallypenetrating,andprofoundlyrevealingofthehumancostofwar,thisremarkablebookportraysnotjustthefateofoneindividualbutanation'sinconsolablepost-wargriefandprofoundlyilluminatesthenatureofmourning.