A Student in Arms
“Remember something more than the ingloriousness of war… remember how adversity made men unselfish, and pain found them tender, and danger found them brave.”
Donald Hankey was both a religious man and a scholar but he set his preaching aside to fight for his country in the First World War.
He would eventually lay down his life at the Battle of the Somme.
But before his death, he wrote this poignant collection of essays on military life during the Great War.
His sympathy and optimism make these essays into something personal and meaningful, and his ability to see beauty in unimaginable circumstances make the essays a pleasure to read.
Hankey’s thoughts on how people were changed by the war and his hopes for the future are fascinating and heartbreaking in equal measure.
A Student in Arms is a book that will make you think about things for the first time and see the world with new eyes.
Donald Hankey (1884-1916) was born in Brighton. He served in the army between 1901 and 1906, when he resigned his commission to pursue theological studies. Answering Kitchener’s call in 1914, Hankey re-joined the army during the First World War where he wrote essays for The Spectator.