Frederick Barnet

The World Set Free

Witnesses the air battle over Holland and survives the inundation.

Prelude: The Sun Snarers

Barnet is a common man who witnesses the last war and the subsequent inundation, representing the ordinary individual caught in the upheaval of change.

§ V

Protagonist and author of the autobiographical novel 'Wander Jahre'; a short, sturdy, observant young man whose education and travels are described, along with his family's financial ruin and his military training.

§ VI

Protagonist; experiences financial ruin and homelessness after his father's suicide, observes the March of the Unemployed, and reflects on the need for collective intelligence.

§ VII

Protagonist who descends from his vision, seeks relief, and receives charity from a stranger.

§ VIII

Narrates his wanderings, observations of social inequality, and reflections on patience and reconstruction; later reports to a mobilisation depot.

The Last War

Narrator and common soldier; describes his journey through France, entrenchment in Belgian Luxembourg, and participation in the battle.

§ I

Barnet describes the London crowd's patriotic enthusiasm as his battalion departs for the French frontier, noting the fickle emotion of minds without established ideas.

§ VI

Narrator and protagonist; describes his wartime experiences, including his first kill and his growing disillusionment with war.

The Flank March and the Battle in the Air

Barnet leads his company through Holland and witnesses the catastrophic aerial battle and flooding.

§ VIII

Narrator and protagonist; witnesses the air battle and leads his men through the flood.

§ IX

Narrator and protagonist; leads rescue efforts, grapples with thirst and the loss of military orders, reflects on the senselessness of war.

§ X

Barnet and his barge-load of hungry men are left behind as the history shifts focus; his narrative provides vignettes of the shattered civilization.

III: The Ending of War

Mentioned as a contemporary writer who described humanity as a sleeper handling matches in his sleep, and who experienced despair during the war's final phase.

§ I

Described as passing through moods of despair, declaring 'This is the end' during the phase of blazing waste.

§ II

Cited as an observer who came within forty miles of Paris and described the social confusion and the red glare of the destruction.

§ III

Observer and recorder of the dispossessed; he serves with the army of pacification and sketches the plight of refugees.

§ IV

Narrator and protagonist; returns to England, witnesses famine and executions, works as a wireless assistant, transcribes the Brissago proclamation.

§ XI

His book is described as a picture of the world coming about like a ship that sails into the wind, serving as a key example of literature reflecting accelerated change.