The Great War
First published in 2014 by
Istros Books
London, United Kingdom
© Aleksandar Gatalica, 2014
The right of Aleksandar Gatalica to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988
Translation © Will Firth, 2014
Graphic design: Frontispis.hr
Cover photograph courtesy of the Imperial War Museum, London (Q 31930)
Ebook conversion by leeds-ebooks.co.uk
ISBN: 978-1-908236203
This edition is supported by the National Library of Serbia and the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Acknowledgements
The author would first and foremost like to thank Petar Pijanović and Professor Dragoljub Živojinović, the first readers of this novel. He is also indebted to the hundreds of eyewitnesses who were his eyes and ears in the Great War: above all John Reed, Princess Cantacuzène and the journalists of wartime Politika, who proved that authors can also write about things they haven’t experienced first-hand as long as they are informed about events by good, reliable witnesses.
ALEKSANDAR GATALICA
THE GREAT WAR
Translated from the Serbian by Will Firth
Contents
1914 – the Year of the Pathologist
The Smell of Snow and Forebodings of Doom
The Man who Did Everything Twice
The Father of all Gothic Doctors
Far away, to the Ends of the Earth
Miracle Cures and Other Elixirs
Corporals, Chaplains and Helmsmen
The Revolution Travels by Train
1918 – the Year of the Criminologist
Epilogue: Dreams Made of Dreams
The Heroes of this Novel
(by warring countries)
Serbia
DJOKA VELKOVICH, manufacturer of Idealin
GAVRA CRNOGORCHEVICH, manufacturer of counterfeit Idealin
Major TIHOMIR MIYUSHKOVICH
YANKO and DJURO TANKOSICH, conscripts from Voivodina
Mrs LIR, a lady from Belgrade
PERA STANISAVLEVICH