Nothing of Importance


Read by Lee Smalley

(4.7 stars; 10 reviews)

Fighting in France during the Great War, Bernard Adams, an officer with a Welsh battalion, was moved to chronicle what he saw and experienced: the living conditions and duties of officers and “Tommies” (enlisted men) in their dank, rat-infested trenches and behind the lines; the maiming and deaths; and the quiet periods described in official reports as “nothing of importance”. Adams relates his wounding in June, 1916 and its aftermath. The concluding chapter, which he wrote during his convalescence in “Blighty” (soldiers’ slang for England), is an impassioned reflection on war. Following several months of recuperation Adams returned to the front where, on February 26, 1917 he was wounded again. The following day he died. (Lee Smalley) (7 hr 58 min)

Chapters

In Memoriam and Preface 12:56 Read by Lee Smalley
First Impressions 28:32 Read by Lee Smalley
Cuinchy and Givenchy 35:38 Read by Lee Smalley
Working-Parties 34:53 Read by Lee Smalley
Rest 37:13 Read by Lee Smalley
On the March 14:12 Read by Lee Smalley
The Bois Français Trenches 26:08 Read by Lee Smalley
More First Impressions 24:51 Read by Lee Smalley
Sniping 31:19 Read by Lee Smalley
On Patrol 13:19 Read by Lee Smalley
'Whom the Gods Love' 24:30 Read by Lee Smalley
'Whom the Gods Love'—(continued). 20:33 Read by Lee Smalley
Officers’ Servants 25:51 Read by Lee Smalley
Mines 24:11 Read by Lee Smalley
Billets 43:13 Read by Lee Smalley
'A certain Man Drew a Bow at a Venture' 18:33 Read by Lee Smalley
Wounded 38:45 Read by Lee Smalley
Conclusion 24:14 Read by Lee Smalley

Reviews

"Nothing of Importance" - a World War I memoir


(5 stars)

I have finished listening to Lee Smalley's Librivox recording of John Bernard Pye Adams' memoir "Nothing of Importance". The reading is excellent and the book is fascinating. It is the memoir of a an introspective English officer serving the Flanders trenches in a Welsh battalion in WWI. In the preface we learn that the officer was killed in action shortly after the diary ends (in mid-1916). The book offers insights into all facets of the war, including the joys, the horrors and the boredom. The book deserves to be much more well known. Hopefully, this recording will contribute to that.