Hailed in the blurb, on the paperback edition that I was reading, as an American classic this book was originally published in 1959. The novel is ostensibly about a friendship between two boys at a traditional American boys' boarding school in New England during the years prior to World War II. The boys in question are Gene, quiet, hard working and intelligent and Phineas, outgoing, popular, and athletic. Phineas' ideas are always accepted by the group of boys of which he is the natural leader, which includes Gene. One such idea is the dangerous dare that involves jumping from a tree branch which projects over the river into the water beneath. Gene's inner resentment towards Phineas, supposedly his best friend, surfaces when he causes the branch on which Phineas is standing to move by rocking it. Phineas loses his balance sending him crashing to the bank beneath seriously fracturing his leg.
The novel depicts the strange atmosphere in the years leading up to the war, and the start of the war itself, on the boys' concerns over signing up as opposed to waiting for conscription. The boys in the school year in question are seen to be in their last idyllic summer before they have to face active service and possible death. The characters of the boys are well delineated which, together with intense boarding school life, serves to highlight the nature of their friendships and enmities. As the days progress, the characters have to face up to their inner demons and hopes of survival, leading to an unexpected climax.
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