Sword of Honour trilogy

The three novels that constitute Sword of Honour present a sweeping panorama of the effects of World War II upon English society, as seen through the consciousness of, and through events which impinge upon, Guy Crouch back. The first novel in the series, Men at Arms, begins by recounting how Guy has frittered away the eight years preceding 1939 in an attempt to forget his divorce from his ex-wife, Virginia Troy. Although he has been unable to overcome the bitterness and depression caused by her adulterous desertion the outbreak of the war fills him with fresh hope. The thirty-six-year-old Guy embarks upon a frantic quest for a regiment which will accept a man of his age and background, and, after many rejections, he is finally accepted for officer training in the Royal Corps of Halberdiers...