About the Book: The Great Swindle
October 1918: the war on the Western Front is all but over. Desperate for one
last chance of promotion, the ambitious Lieutenant Henri dAulnay Pradelle sends
two scouts over the top, and secretly shoots them in the back to incite his men
to heroic action once more.
And so is set in motion a series of devastating events that will inextricably
bind together the fates and fortunes of Pradelle and the two soldiers who
witness his crime: Albert Maillard and Édouard Péricourt.
Back in civilian life, Albert and Édouard struggle to adjust to a society whose
reverence for its dead cannot quite