First published in 1966 (London: Heinemann, New York: Little, Brown)
The Soldier’s Art covers the bleakest period of the war, both for Britain and for Nick Jenkins. As bad as the fall of France and the drudgery of garrison duties in Northern Ireland in The Valley of the Bones were, the first half of 1941—the collapse of the British defense of Greece, the German invasion of Russia, and the oppression of having to serve under Widmerpool—are respective low points for country and character. Early in the book’s first chapter, when the anomaly of a Deputy Assistant Adjutant General (DAAG) gaining an assistant is still puzzling other officers at the division HQ, Nick notes one of Widmerpool’s more tedious tendencies:
Like most persons viewed through the eyes of a subordinate, his nature was to be appreciated with keener insight from below. This new angle of observation revealed, for example, how difficult he was to work with, particularly on account of a secretiveness that derived from perpetual fear, almost obsession, that tasks completed by himself might be attributed to the work of someone else.
For Widmerpool, the petty politics of a garrison rich in officers, poor in NCOs, and lacking the forcing function of a compelling mission aside from that of readiness is close to heaven, or would be if it weren’t so remote from what he considers the proper theater for his ambition: Whitehall. And to have a former schoolmate as the fag he never got at Eton is just the cherry on top. “Your master is always the first staff officer to arrive at these Headquarters in the morning,” he informs Nick on their first day together—”Your master” being a title Widmerpool’s probably coveted since schooldays.
For Nick, staff duties are no better suited to his interests and temperament than those of command. And unlike in Roland Gwatkins’s company, his fellow officers at headquarters are, on the whole, an unpleasant lot. Neither of the two men Widmerpool conspires to prevail over—Colonel Hogbourne-Johnson and Captain Biggs—have much to their credit, although Hogbourne-Johnson seems to have a slightly better command of Army administrative intricacies than Widmerpool. And Widmerpool’s grudge against Sunny Farebrother, reappearing after many years of showing up in name only, offers a clue to Widmerpool’s weakness for taking up fights he would be better served to ignore. Anthony Powell’s own time at headquarters of the 53rd (Welsh) Division in Belfast was little better, ranging largely from “distribution of vehicles to the disposal of ash and swill.”
The Soldier’s Art reacquaints us with numerous characters from the pre-war volumes of A Dance, and in a general more artful manner than in the episode of weekend leave at Frederica Budd’s cottage in The Valley of Bones. There is little to cheer us in the reunions. Charles Stringham turns up as a waiter in Nick’s mess: ragged, edgy, like a victim of shellshock, though still with a little flicker of flame in his spirit.
Then, on leave in London, what is meant to be a happy night out with Moreland is hijacked at the start by Chips Lovell, bitter and jealous at his wife Priscilla’s affair with Odo Stevens. Hopeful for a reconciliation, Chips heads off to a party at the Café Madrid. When Moreland finally arrives, he’s soon followed by the irascible Audrey Maclintick, never one of Nick’s favorites, and then Priscilla and Odo show up, reminding Nick that most of the couplings he knew before the war have been jumbled and rearranged. To put a black cap on the night, Nick learns of two bombings—first of the Café Madrid, in which Chips Lovell, Bijou Ardglass, and all their guests have been killed; and second, of the Jeavons home, killing Lady Molly and Priscilla, who’d been staying there.
Return to division headquarters brings no relief. Widmerpool has taken revenge against Stringham by assigning him to Bithel’s Mobile Laundry unit, and soon after against Bithel, having him dismissed for drunkenness. His skirmishes with Colonel Hogbourne-Johnson have escalated to the point where only one man can come out on top, and it is only news of Widmerpool’s assignment to the Cabinet Office that save him from disgrace. And, as in that terrible night in London, two incidents further reinforce the grim atmosphere at the HQ. Stringham, along with the rest of the Mobile Laundry unit, are dispatched to Singapore—meaning, as we know from the history to come, his fate is to become a prisoner of the Japanese. And Biggs hangs himself in the cricket hut. And finally, Nick ends by informing us, in the book’s last line, that the plane carrying his friend Barnby on a reconnaissance mission has been shot down.
The Soldier’s Art has the simplest structure of all the volumes in A Dance: three chapters, two locations (division HQ and London).
- Chapter 1. Early 1941. Widmerpool indoctrinates Nick in his conspiratorial approach to wielding administrative power within the headquarters—reserving, of course, crucial details and motivations to himself. We are introduced to Widmerpool’s chief adversaries, particularly Colonel Hogbourne-Johnson and Sunny Farebrother, from both Widmerpool’s perspective and Nick’s. Nick is billeted in F Mess, a group of officers at best dull and at worst combative (Biggs). At dinner one evening, Nick looks up and realizes that the private attempting to serve potatoes at the mess table is Charles Stringham.
- Chapter 2. An evening and early morning after while Nick is on leave in London, April 1941. Nick makes plans to spend the evening with Moreland, but before that, he has an interview for a liaison job where his weak command of written French ends his chances, and then he is forced into a drink with Chips Lovell. Though Nick eventually meets up with Moreland, other characters stream in and out of the club and there is little of their old repartee. When he accompanies Moreland and Audrey Maclintick back to their flat, Max Pilgrim informs them that the Café Madrid has been bombed, killing Chips Lovell and the other partiers. Nick leaves to tell Priscilla, who is staying with Lady Molly, only to find that their house has also been bombed, killing them both.
- Chapter 3. After Nick’s return from London, May-June 1941. Widmerpool has had Stringham transferred to the Mobile Laundry unit. Widmerpool intrigues to place Diplock in command of the reconnaissance unit against Hogbourne-Johnson’s wishes. Nick and Stringham attempt to escort a very drunken Bithel back to quarters but are stopped by Widmerpool, who then has Bithel dismissed from the Army. Widmerpool also arranges to have the Mobile Laundry unit sent to the Far East. Just before his machinations on Diplock’s behalf put his own career at risk, Widmerpool receives news of his posting to London. Stringham refuses Nick’s entreaties not to deploy to Asia; Biggs is found dead, hung in the cricket hut; Nick receives orders to report to the War Office the following week.
Though more dark days lie ahead—the German advance to the gates of Moscow, the attack on Pearl Harbor, the fall of Singapore—for Nick Jenkins and perhaps us as readers, the end of The Soldier’s Art must seem like release from Purgatory.