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.

生活在英國小鎮的小托，跟媽媽、兩個哥哥，還有心生好感的姑娘莫莉，一起過著寜靜、明亮、芬芳的生活。生活中也有悲傷、愁苦、失落，和看似解決不瞭的睏境，每每這時，他們就唱起一首名叫《柑橘與檸檬啊》的歌。在歌聲中，敏感、柔弱的小托慢慢長大。戰爭的轟然來臨，改變瞭所有人的生活。小托本能地逃避戰爭的行為，卻被彆人以及他自己認為是懦弱的。為瞭逃避這種羞恥，為瞭逃避愛情的挫敗，小托謊報瞭年齡，和查理一起應徵入伍。在戰火中，小托對世界和自己有瞭更新的認識，他漸漸褪去瞭柔弱和怯懦，懂得堅強、擔當和關懷，內心越來越強大。

"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.