The letters and personal accounts were selected because they reflect the author's candidness, rich historical detail in describing their situation on the battlefield. They also touch on the stress and the mental anguish of what it was like being at war. Moreover, there are glimpses of sadness in the personal undertones in the letters to a mother or a brother. Also, there are tales of selfless acts of gallantry. Lastly, there is the testament to the cruelty of being a prisoner of war! But most of all you get that sense of the will to survive on the battlefield and the Great War itself!