Retreat, A Story of 1918 by Charles R. Benstead was first published by Methuen in 1930, when First World War fiction was moving from positive accounts of combat heroism towards narratives of disillusionment and loss.
Based on the author's combat experiences as a British Fifth Army artillery officer during the massive German advance in March 1918, this book centers on the British retreat as experienced by Padre Warne, an egotistical churchman ill suited to the bitter realities of combat at the front.
