For Giono, who made the war of 14-18, it has been more than great and glorious butcher. However this book is not an anti-militaristic pamphlet. He described the man in front, his life, his death, his fears, his fantasies; he also speaks and it is rare for women left alone in the back with the old and unfit for combat, doing the work of their men. The main theme of the book, which focuses on individuals (as to compensate for the fact that man becomes herd beast to war and loses his personality) is that of war as life mess. Many times this expression returns "This is ruin the life." These men who are married, engaged and where amputees returning or not returning. And those that need some old alone drive a huge flock of sheep to the Crau at a pace that kills many of the beasts. Immense human mess that Giono's the sign of the end of a world, the decline of civilization and the return of the wild forces. The man before them, survives by instinct more crude. Because his duty as a man, his duty to his family, to him it is to survive.
So if this book clearly shows disgust Giono for war, it is not a hollow text, generalizing excessively and handling the masses with ease. The writer suspicious masses, herds, he then book fair novel, powerful, thought that paints a true picture of the war at the front in France as in the countryside. A major book on the subject.
