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  • The First Casualty

  • By: Ben Elton
  • Narrated by: Jack Davenport
  • Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (4 ratings)

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The First Casualty

By: Ben Elton
Narrated by: Jack Davenport
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Publisher's Summary

Flanders, June 1917: a British officer and celebrated poet is shot dead, killed not by German fire, but while recuperating from shell shock well behind the lines. A young English soldier is arrested and, although he protests his innocence, charged with his murder. Douglas Kingsley is a conscientious objector, previously a detective with the London police, now imprisoned for his beliefs. He is released, and sent to France in order to secure a conviction. Forced to conduct his investigations amidst the hell of The Third Battle of Ypres, Kingsley soon discovers that both the evidence and the witnesses he needs are quite literally disappearing into the mud that surrounds him.

Ben Elton's tenth novel is a gut-wrenching historical drama which explores some fundamental questions. What is murder? What is justice in the face of unimaginable daily slaughter? And where is the honour in saving a man from the gallows if he is only to be returned to die in a suicidal battle? As the gap between legally-sanctioned and illegal murder becomes ever more blurred, Kingsley quickly learns that the first casualty when war comes is truth.

©2005 Ben Elton (P)2005 Random House Audiobooks

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Ben Elton’s usual brilliance is

The best author of our time. Hard to give proper cudos. Just read and enjoy. As an avid reader. Ben Elton has no equal but Douglass Adams is a challenger .

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Oh no it’s the abridged version!

I bought this book not realising that it was the abridged version. My mistake. Now I know who dunnit without the pleasure of the full book. Don’t do what I did. Beautifully read and written of course. Just search for the full version unless you are the sort of person who skips through books.

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