Men At Arms

By: Evelyn Waugh

Narrated by: Christian Rodska

"An eminently readable comedy of modern war" (New York Times), Men at Arms is the first novel in Evelyn Waugh's brilliant Sword of Honor trilogy.
Guy Crouchback, determined to get into the war, takes a commission in the Royal Corps of Halberdiers. His spirits high, he sees all the trimmings but none of the action. And his first campaign, an abortive affair on the West African coastline, ends with an escapade that seriously blots his Halberdier copybook.
Men at Arms is the first novel in Waugh's brilliant Sword of Honor trilogy recording the tumultuous wartime adventures of Guy Crouchback ("the finest work of fiction in English to emerge from World War II" --Atlantic Monthly), which also comprises Officers and Gentlemen and Unconditional Surrender.

Critic reviews

"Highly entertaining."—Atlantic Monthly

"An eminently readable comedy of modern war...frequently hilarious, sometimes touching."—Alice Morris, New York Times

"Reading Men at Arms is like hearing a full keyboard used by a pianist who has hitherto confined himself to a single octave. Waugh is fully alive to the fact that no modern war is just a soldier's war. The drawing rooms, kitchens, and clubs of the home front interest him just as much as the barracks and the tents....To Waugh--and to the reader, after Waugh has waved his magic wand of characterization--mediocrity seems not only a human condition but a fascinating one."—TIME

"A highly entertaining novel about some of the preposterious experiences of the Second World War....Men at Arms has none of the ponderous detail, none of the piled-on brutality, which have made so many war books a heavy burden. Waugh's sharp wit and sure touch of satire are always at work."—Edward Weeks, Atlantic Monthly

Funny and Dark

Very well written and terrifically read. An almost domestic look into army life during a global conflict. Worth a listen for sure.

Absolutely tedious

Very dry, and tedious. I had been expecting more from this, but came away disappointed. No emotional or intellectual investment in any of the characters. The Protagonist is just a dry. dull, tedious shell that I could not bring myself to even remember in passing. I'd like to say it was well voice acted, but it was so monotonousl; so tedious, I found my attention drifting away. I persisted to the end to see if it wrapped up with anything memorable, but alas, no. Even the characters themselves weren't surprised where they ended.

Supposedly Humorous

Men at Arms is supposed to be humorous in a dry way, but I didn't see the humor in it. The book provides a cynical look at a fictional WWII British military unit populated by hapless individuals who make idiotic mistakes or bear the blame for the poor choices of superiors. Waugh's Brideshead Revisited is a deeper book with complex characters and I enjoyed it very much, but I would not recommend this book.