People
There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all hell.
— William Tecumseh Sherman
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
The speaker confronts an admiring picture of war with an uncompromising description of suffering. Addressing the boys directly makes the warning personal, while the repeated 'all' sharpens the contrast between glory and hell. The final words leave no space for the romantic view being challenged.
Context reviewed