‘One of the great Central European war stories, on a par with the works of Jaroslav Hašek.’ – Los Angeles Review of Books
‘Lively, faithful, and sensitive to the cultural nuances that make the novel such a rich tapestry of the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy prior to WWI.’ - World Literature Today
‘Wittlin’s… irony and quiet fury are those of the idealistic ascetic steeped in the Old Testament and the Odyssey. His compassion for the ignorant and lowly of the earth, breathed into his work, imparts to it a glowing poetic quality and a sublimity of soul… It is a volume to be read again and again. It has the satisfying quality of good music.’ - Virginia Quarterly Review
‘One of the small number of contemporary works which extend into the sphere of the mythical and epical’ - Thomas Mann
