In the book of the French prose writer and public figure Henri Barbus reveals the true reasons and scourges the perpetrators of the outbreak of the First World War. The author shows how the consciousness of soldiers wakes up - future participants in the revolutionary movement. In addition to the old translation of V. Parnakh, published with a preface by M. Gorky in 1918 (the translation was revised and edited for this edition), the book includes extensive materials from the creative heritage of Henri Barbus (1873-1935), directly related to his novel "Fire."