The book is skillfully abridged version of the diary of a First World War motorcycle dispatch rider, Sergeant Albert Simpkin, who was attached to the HQ 37th Division. The diary entries, and some longer descriptions of the main actions of the Division, provide a fascinating record of the life of a dispatch rider on the Western Front; one day dodging shell holes and ammunition limbers to take his dispatches to the front, the next observing the quaint but often courageous lives of the local populace. Throughout the diary are colourful and amusing anecdotes about his fellow soldiers, and critical comments on the strategies and tactics employed by the officers.
