No More Parades
by Ford Madox Ford
No More Parades ) is the second novel in Ford Madox Ford's series of four novels and depicts the encounter, courtship, and final performance of two modern heroes, Christopher Thietgens and Valentin Vannope, despite social condemnation, personal betrayals, and World War I. Ford poured his own experience as a writer, lover and soldier into these novels. Christopher can no longer find a parade with the army in France. His efforts are ignored, his wife causes a scandal about him, and his love for Valentin Vannope sinks deep into layers of responsibility. At the height of the novel, he must undergo lengthy interrogation to avoid a court battle for shooting a senior officer, and his order must be subject to formal scrutiny that same morning. Through Ford's eyes, we see war and romanticism wrapped in an irrational embrace.
