A very well written "fictional" (read: based very closely on the first hand experience of the author) accounting of World War 1. Chevallier transformed his experience of years of anxiety in the trenches into a very well written account of the war by showing his ideological death and rebirth as he survived countless massacres. The only other WW1 memoir I've read was Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger, which, while no doubt accurate, was quite dry. Fear avoids becoming monotonous by including additional characters and vignettes to express more of Chevallier's opinions about war. Make no mistake, while more interesting than publishing a memoir of his journals, the novel is still clearly anti-war. There is no honor or glory here, just humans experiencing what was, at the time, the worst conflict in human history. I'd highly recommend it for anyone who doesn't comprehend what the experience was like for the soldiers during World War 1. I'd also recommend it for anyone who still thinks war is a worthwhile pursuit, as nothing has changed since this novel was written. War is still masses of people dying for the egos and agendas of a few high ranking officials/capitalists.