William—An Englishman

William—An Englishman is a powerful anti-war novel that begins with the idealistic marriage of William and Griselda, pacifists who travel to Belgium for a honeymoon just as World War I breaks out. Their brief happiness is shattered when they are caught in the German invasion. As the horrors of war unfold around them, their pacifist ideals are tested. William is forced to reckon with violence, loss, and the betrayal of his beliefs. The novel, one of the earliest fictional responses to World War I, is a stark condemnation of war’s devastation and a moving portrayal of personal and ideological disillusionment.