Taking place just before World War I, English novelist Ford Madox Ford’s 1915 publication "The Good Soldier" recounts the story of Edward Ashburnham and his seemingly idyllic life with his wife and another couple who are their friends.
A series of flashbacks that are not presented in chronological order serve as the structure of the novel and serve, too, as an early example of literary impressionism. The narrator is considered unreliable as his telling of the events differs from what is suggested in the introduction. "The Good Soldier" is a novel about the differences between appearance and reality—and about human willingness to see events in a light that best suits the viewer, regardless of how accurate that vision may be.
Incidents of adultery in Ford’s life are thought to have inspired the novel. The book was originally titled "The Saddest Story" but as World War I was underway by the time of its release, the publishers requested that Ford change the title.
The text is highly respected on both sides of the Atlantic with Modern Library listing it as one of the best English language novels of the twentieth century and the BBC naming it number thirteen on its list of the one hundred greatest British novels.
