Bertrand was born in 1888 in Nyons, Drôme, and after attending his local school, he departed for Paris, where he worked as a journalist on a number of papers, including Paris-Midi and L'Homme libre.
During this period, he also began a literary magazine named Les Chiméres, which he used as a vehicle to publicise his socialist ideas and surrealist poetry, as well as give a voice to people of a like mind.
Bertrand was a confirmed pacifist and just short of his 26th birthday when the First World War began, but nonetheless joined the French Army immediately, being given a position in the cavalry.
Faced with long periods of enforced bed rest, Bertrand returned to his writing and completed two works before he finally succumbed to his wounds over three years after he received them.
These soldiers study the motives behind their march to war, representing all France in their make-up and ideals, but also unpicking the reasons behind the French will to fight and the destructive nature of blind patriotism.