Well that was brutal. The Forgotten Soldier is Guy Sajer's account of his time serving in the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front in World War Two from his early days running supplies to combat service in the Grossdeutschland division.

I don't know what to say, I can't offer criticism to a man's account of his 4 years in Hell. This book was deeply moving, horrifying and occasionally, bleakly funny.

This was the first memoir I've read of a German soldier's experience in the Second World War and the first about the Eastern Front too. It's rather sobering to be reminded that the 'bad guys' suffer in war as well.

As a final note, according to Wikipedia, Mr Sajer has been accused of fabricating the story in this book. Apparently some of the details about what unit was where and when and various details of life in the Wehrmacht are incorrect in The Forgotten Soldier. On the other hand, some historians and German veterans claim that the claims of this book are believable. I'm not a historian or a veteran of the Second World War so I make no claim either way.