Resumen
Resumen de Bajo el fuego: la historia de una escuadra
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You will love this if you enjoy war fiction told by the men in the ranks, vivid group portraits, earthy humour and slang, and friendship that grows into big questions about peace and justice.
De qué trata este libro
Picture a wooden gallery high in the Swiss Alps, where sick men lie wrapped in blankets and look at Mont Blanc. A servant brings the newspapers, and one patient says that war is declared. An Austrian, an Englishman and a German hear the news side by side.
This is how Under Fire begins. Henri Barbusse, a French writer who served in the infantry, drew on his own months at the front and published the book in 1916. Instead of generals and maps, it follows one squad of ordinary men through trenches, rest villages and night work parties. You get to know them by name, and you watch them joke, squabble, hunt for food and ask why any of it is happening.
En este resumen
- 1From the Alps, the whole war comes into viewFree
- 2Life in the trench is waiting, mud and small comforts
- 3Men of every age and trade become one family
- 4Visitors and newspapers show how far the rear is
- 5Rest quarters bring a new struggle for a table
- 6Leave and sick leave show the gap with home
- 7Poterloo walks back to his ruined village
- 8Fear, discipline and noise fill the days at the front
- 9The front and the rear feel like two countries
- 10A plain voice and small objects carry the book
Idea clave 1 de 10
From the Alps, the whole war comes into view
The book opens far from any trench, on a sanatorium gallery facing Mont Blanc. Sick patients from many countries lie under coloured blankets. A servant brings the newspapers, and the first man to open his announces that war is declared.
Each patient answers from his own country. The Austrian calls his nation's act a crime, the Englishman says France must win, and the German hopes his own side is defeated. Then they fall silent and picture the valley filling with marching men. One counts thirty million soldiers.
A storm breaks over the mountain, and the watchers imagine a flooded plain crawling with muddy figures. Asked whether war can be stopped, they say you might as well forbid the storm. Yet the vision ends on hope. These slaves, hurled against one another by guilt and error, lift their human faces and show a growing will.
Seen from far away, the war is one huge crowd of workers who might someday refuse it.
That’s 1 of 10 key points.
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Go deeper: the whole of Bajo el fuego: la historia de una escuadra
About 7 h 40 min to read.Empieza 90 días gratisPaperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 105,300 words
- Reading timeAbout 7 h 20 min
Questions about Bajo el fuego: la historia de una escuadra
What is Under Fire by Henri Barbusse about?
It follows a squad of ordinary French infantrymen through trenches, rest villages and night work during the First World War. The book shows daily life, friendship, fear and anger, and asks why soldiers fight and who profits.
Who are Paradis, Volpatte, Lamuse and Barque?
They are members of the narrator's squad. Paradis is a kindly carter, Volpatte a grumbling veteran with a family photograph, Lamuse a huge farmhand, and Barque a quick Parisian porter who finds food and fuel.
What does the word poilu mean in the book?
Poilu means hairy one, the affectionate French nickname for an infantry soldier. The men call themselves and each other poilus, and the word appears constantly in the dialogue, along with Boches for the Germans.
Is Under Fire easy to read?
The book is told in short chapters, each with its own scene, and much of it is lively dialogue full of jokes and nicknames. You can follow the squad one episode at a time and enjoy each on its own.
Cite this edition
Barbusse, Henri. Under Fire: The Story of a Squad. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/under-fire-the-story-of-a-squad.
Barbusse, H. (2026). Under fire: The story of a squad. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/under-fire-the-story-of-a-squad (Original work published 1916)
Barbusse, Henri. Under Fire: The Story of a Squad. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/under-fire-the-story-of-a-squad.
@book{barbusse2026under,
author = {Barbusse, Henri},
title = {Under Fire: The Story of a Squad},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/under-fire-the-story-of-a-squad},
note = {First published 1916}
}
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