"The Long and the Short and the Tall made a great impression on me because it was a very ugly tale about the reality of soldiering at a time when we were being gung-ho about the whole thing of war"

The Long and the Short and the Tall is a play written by Willis Hall in 1959. It tells the story of a group of British soldiers stationed in the Malayan jungle during World War II. The play made a fantastic impression on me due to the fact that it was a plain suggestion of the harsh realities of war. It was a plain contrast to the gung-ho mindset of the time, which glorified war and downplayed its effects. The play showed the human cost of war, and the struggles of the soldiers to cope with the physical and mental toll of war. It was an effective reminder of the catastrophe of war, and the value of understanding its consequences prior to participating in it.