"They've gone now, and I'm alone at last. I have the whole night ahead of me, and I won't waste a single moment of it . . . I want tonight to be long, as long as my life . . ." For young Private Peaceful, looking back over his childhood while he is on night watch in the battlefields of the First World War, his memories are full of family life deep in the countryside: his mother, Charlie, Big Joe, and Molly -- the love of his life. Too young to be enlisted, Thomas has followed his brother to war and now, every moment he spends thinking about his life, means another moment closer to danger.

Private Peaceful is a novel written by Michael Morpurgo, and a play by by Simon Reade, based on the book. It is about a soldier called Thomas, or Tommo, Peaceful, who is looking back on his life from the trenches of World War I. Structurally, each chapter of the book brings the reader closer to the present. The story especially underlines the senselessness of war and ineptitude of the commanding officers.

The play by Simon Reade was first performed at the Bristol Old Vic in April 2004, and starred Alexander Campbell. Later the production enjoyed sell-out transfers to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and London’s West End, and then toured the United Kingdom.

生活在英国小镇的小托,跟妈妈、两个哥哥,还有心生好感的姑娘莫莉,一起过着宁静、明亮、芬芳的生活。生活中也有悲伤、愁苦、失落,和看似解决不了的困境,每每这时,他们就唱起一首名叫《柑橘与柠檬啊》的歌。在歌声中,敏感、柔弱的小托慢慢长大。战争的轰然来临,改变了所有人的生活。小托本能地逃避战争的行为,却被别人以及他自己认为是懦弱的。为了逃避这种羞耻,为了逃避爱情的挫败,小托谎报了年龄,和查理一起应征入伍。在战火中,小托对世界和自己有了更新的认识,他渐渐褪去了柔弱和怯懦,懂得坚强、担当和关怀,内心越来越强大。