Sebastian Barry is an Irish playwright, novelist, and poet, noted for his dense literary writing style and considered one of Ireland's finest writers. His career began in poetry before he turned to plays and novels, with his fiction now surpassing his theatrical success. His prose delves deeply into Irish history and the human experience, often with a melancholic yet poetic tone. Barry's work explores themes of memory, identity, and the complexities of family ties with a distinctive linguistic sensibility.
After signing up for the US army in the 1850s, barely seventeen, Thomas McNulty and his brother-in-arms, John Cole, fight in the Indian Wars and the Civil War. Having both fled terrible hardships, their days are now vivid and filled with wonder, despite the horrors they both see and are complicit in.