Cassell, 2001, $9.95, ISBN 0-304-35642-5, 344 pgs, trade paperback

This reprint of the 1987 novel tickles the funnybone in its display of British wit, wisdom, and absurdity. Set amidst WWI in 1916, the novel follows Royal Flying Corps Lt. Oliver Paxton as he graduates from flying school and gets sent to the front in France.

Right from the start, the gung-ho nature of young Paxton clashes with the sensibilities of veteran pilots and the slightly daft commanding officer. The informal nature of officer life during wartime jars Paxton's enthusiasm for spit and polish. He manages to make enemies at every turn, even, and perhaps especially, those who attempt to educate him.

Slowly, terribly, and inevitably, Paxton changes as aerial warfare claims more of his squadron. He becomes grimmer, wackier, and deadlier as the air war changes from a gentlemanly game to murderous work. After being wounded and returned from the hospital during the Somme offensive, the cycle completes and he is now that disillusioned veteran who lambastes the new pilots.

The aerial combat sequences are a minor quantity of the book, but certainly a qualitative display of Robinson's prose. You can't help but chuckle about some ground-based escapade. The juxtaposition of life with death make it all the funnier and absurd.

War Story massages the glamour of WWI aerial warfare into a thoughtful reflection of the waste of war. The stress and fear of front-line combat plays off the fantasies and promises of rear area life and general's wishes.

Eminently readable, brilliantly executed, and often exceptionally funny, War Story delivers that rare combination of action and pathos in a novel more about life than death.

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