Among the thousands of men who shivered and suffered in the trenches during the First World War, some did not even have the protection of a weapon. Members of the Royal Army Medical Corps (the RAMC) were there not to take lives, but to save them.

Many chose this difficult and dangerous work because of their principles - including conscientious objector Charles Horton, who went through the horrors of Passchendaele, Ypres and the Somme, fighting to get the injured away from the guns, to the safety of the field hospitals and beyond. After the war, Horton felt that the RAMC and their sacrifices were forgotten, and so in 1970 he wrote down his memories. In this glorious book, full of first hand detail, he takes us back to the trenches in France and the mountains of Italy.

This is a wonderful authentic account of one man's struggle to survive - and to keep others alive. With the approval of Horton's family, author Dale le Vack has edited Horton's journals for clarity, and added more text to provide background. The result is a superb memoir of one of the darkest periods in history.