The Wars by Timothy Findley is a 1977 novel about Robert Ross, a young Canadian officer who enlists in the military and fights in the First World War. The novel uses first, second, and third person narrative points of view. By switching between the different perspectives, the novel gives the reader the sense that they are a historian searching through archives, looking at photographs, and interviewing people from Robert’s life. The book is an example of historiographic metafiction, a combination of historical fiction and metafiction.

Plot Summary

The novel begins with Robert Ross, surrounded by burning wreckage. A historian investigates Robert’s life. Old photographs show the onset of the First World War; Robert Ross is in military clothing and standing with his wheelchair-bound sister, Rowena.

In April 1915, Robert arrives in Ontario. He intends to join the military and is sent to Alberta for training. He meets Eugene Taffler, a famous war hero. With the other recruits, Robert visits a local brothel. A girl takes Robert up to her room where they watch Taffler through a peephole as he engages in a rough sexual encounter with the brothel’s bouncer.

At only 19, Robert is promoted to Second Lieutenant, and he sets out for Europe. Storms beset his journey across the Atlantic storms. An officer named Harris contracts pneumonia and nearly dies. By the time the boat docks, he has been bruised by the horses traveling on the boat, and the Captain insists that he visit the infirmary. He travels with Harris and the two men bond. At home, Mrs. Ross awaits Robert’s return and collects every letter he sends.

In France, Robert is in charge of a convoy, and meets others including Willie Poole, Levitt, and Rodwell. He takes leave to visit Harris in England at his deathbed. At the hospital, Robert meets Taffler again. Taffler introduces him to Barbara d’Orsey, who is visiting another patient (Villiers, who has been badly burned). Harris dies and is cremated before Robert can arrange a funeral. Along with Taffler and Barbara, Robert takes the ashes and scatters them in the Thames. After developing a relationship with Barbara, Robert leaves again for France.

A series of mines explode near the front and collapse the dugout; a German assault begins. Robert receives a mission from the command center. After facing a gas attack, he accidentally kills a man in cold blood.  

The German assault continues. Levitt has shellshock. Two days later, news reaches Robert that Rodwell shot himself. In Canada, Mrs. Ross has begun to wander outside during storms. Her behavior worries Mr. Ross though he does little to intervene. Robert’s tour of duty is over, and he returns to Britain.

Twelve-year-old Juliet d’Orsey remembers the time Robert spent at her family’s home, which has become a convalescent hospital where Robert is treated. Juliet, aged 12, shows him to his room. Taffler is also present; he has lost both his arms in the war. Barbara returns to the house and she and Robert begin spending more time together. One day, Juliet enters Taffler’s room to find that he has attempted suicide. Juliet decides to play a prank on Robert, enters his room, and sees him and Barbara having sex.

Robert travels back to France. After arriving, he decides to go to the local baths in Desolé, which are situated in an asylum. Many other soldiers are using the facilities. A group of soldiers rapes Robert and leaves him in the dark.

Robert returns to the front line as the Allies plan a massive assault. A shelling barrage catches the train he is riding. Robert helps the survivors, including men and horses. He spends the next six days riding with supply wagons. Robert has sixty horses and mules in stables that are caught in another attack. He asks Captain Leather for permission to try to save the horses. The Captain denies the request, but Robert does it anyway with the help of Devlin, another officer. Leather calls them traitors, and as the horses and mules escape, he shoots Devlin. Just as Leather is about to shoot Robert, Robert kills the Captain. More shells fall and Robert flees with the animals.

In Canada, Mr. and Mrs. Ross learn that Robert is missing in action. Mrs. Ross drinks and loses her sight while her husband comforts her. Robert gets onto a horse and rides along a deserted road. Robert chances across a group of soldiers and kills one young man. The soldiers chase Robert and the horses to a barn. They lay siege to Robert and eventually set fire to the barn to force him to come out. A problem with the doors nearly traps Robert inside, and as the horses burn to death, he bursts out and is captured.

He is taken to a field hospital, and when a nurse offers him enough morphine to kill himself, he refuses. After two months of treatment, Robert moves to the d’Orsey home for treatment. Barbara loses interest in him, but Juliet becomes a close companion. Robert is court martialed but allowed to remain at the hospital. The extent of his injuries means he will likely never recover. He dies at the age of 26.