Very British - and better than Balzac. Andreas Isenschmid in 'Die Zeit' World War II has broken out. In early 1940, Nick Jenkins joins a regiment in Wales as a second lieutenant, led by the eager Commander Gwatkin and supported by the alcoholic Lieutenant Blithel. An absurd regulation structures the soldiers' lives on home soil, and so Nick spends most of his time with his comrades practicing the art of waiting.