'B ll's novel blows a stent in the human heart. . . It feels more necessary than ever.' Anna Funder, from the introduction Twenty-four-year-old Andreas, a disillusioned German soldier, is travelling on a troop train to the Eastern Front when he has an awful premonition that he will die in exactly five days. As he hurtles towards his death, he reflects on the chaos around him - the na ve soldiers, the painfully thin girl who pours his coffee, the ruined countryside - with sudden, heart-breaking ...