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Virgin Soldiers #1
The Virgin Soldiers
'It rained a lot and steamed when the sun shone. It was always hot. But it was safe...'
One way or another the Communist guerrilla war in Malaya kept a whole British army occupied from 1948 until 1952. They were the virgin soldiers. Idle, homesick, afraid, bored, oversexed and unsatisfied.
A young virgin like Brigg had to grab his fun while and where he could - in the Liberty Club, in Juicy Lucy's flat or up in Phillipa's room - in one frantic attempt at living before he died or got demobbed...
One way or another the Communist guerrilla war in Malaya kept a whole British army occupied from 1948 until 1952. They were the virgin soldiers. Idle, homesick, afraid, bored, oversexed and unsatisfied.
A young virgin like Brigg had to grab his fun while and where he could - in the Liberty Club, in Juicy Lucy's flat or up in Phillipa's room - in one frantic attempt at living before he died or got demobbed...
324 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1966
47 people are currently reading
180 people want to read
About the author
Leslie Thomas
76 books38 followersBorn in Newport, Monmouthshire, 1931, Leslie Thomas is the son of a sailor who was lost at sea in 1943. His boyhood in an orphanage is evoked in This Time Next Week, published in 1964. At sixteen, he became a reporter, before going on to do his national service. He won worldwide acclaim with his bestselling novel The Virgin Soldiers, which has achieved international sales of over four million copies.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
March 14, 2016
Synopsis
they don't stay virgins for long!
Review
time to strip down...
for the British soldiers stationed in late 40s-early 50s Malaya at the Panglin Base on Singapore Island, there is one element that impacts them all: the intense, pervasive heat. clothing becomes unnecessary for these soldiers, a burden, and so those clothes are quickly discarded throughout the day and night. the soldiers are stripped down in other ways as well: young, inexperienced in matters of love and death, their personalities only barely formed, virgins in their lack of experience in war, in the understanding of life itself. there is a sameness to these recruits, a shared lack that gives them a sort of anonymity. trade one out for the other and you'd barely notice a difference. the writing and the story itself are likewise stripped down. this is not a novel of gorgeous prose or of adventure after adventure. The Virgin Soldiers is about life on a sleepy base, one where the war against communist guerillas barely encroaches. it is a book about small moments, ways to amuse yourself when bored and stuck in one place. and so Thomas describes his story's anecdotes with a certain nonchalance, a lack of poetry, using only the occasional splash of vivid imagery to brighten the pages. it made the reading experience an easy and swift one, but a rather forgettable one as well.
time to fuck...
with soldiers who have so much time on their hands and so little to do, in their teens and early 20s, one obsession connects them all: their dicks. the book is frank and highly sexual, but it is not a sexy book. nonchalance balances frankness and so the end result is sexual behavior treated with a lack of heat and drama. whether they are contemplating their various erections in the barracks or getting it on with various Asian whores in a nearby city, reckless passion is rarely present; instead there is a constant and very prosaic horniness, an itch that always needs to be scratched. one of the things I appreciated about this book is Thomas' decision to include the perspective of Phillipa, the 20-year old daughter of a particularly repugnant Sergeant-Major. she dominates the thoughts of many soldiers, including the appealing protagonist Brigg and the admirable Sergeant Driscoll; her vaguely contemptuous disinterest that barely hides a deep well of seething anger in turn dominates the narrative whenever she appears. a fascinating character. I also liked the lack of homophobia in the offhand description of a pair of soldiers in love with each other, and I particularly respected the lack of sexism in the depiction of the whores that Brigg and his buddies return to repeatedly. the author's honesty and lack of issues, his refusal to be judgmental when presenting sexual relations and sexuality in general is really admirable.
time to die...
the base on Singapore Island may be a quiet one, its soldiers bored out of their skulls, but death still comes to call in The Virgin Soldiers. the horrible and tragic death of one of the female characters comes out of nowhere; its suddenness and the careless way it is described to Brigg was like a punch in the gut for both Brigg and me. likewise with the accidental death of a soldier who steps on a mine: a beautiful morning on the beach, young men swimming and playing football, a terrible explosion, body parts everywhere - and then a memory that won't go away for Briggs, or me. those are isolated incidences in the overall story, but death comes in a major way near the end of novel. a bandit attack on a train transporting civilians and soldiers returning from vacation is completely hair-raising. Thomas' decision not to alter the breezy nonchalance of his story nor to escalate his stripped-down prose into something more dramatic made this sequence particularly striking. the mayhem and confusion, the body parts, the moments of cowardice and heroism... all are reported in same casual way in which Thomas describes a bullfrog race a few pages earlier. a commendable show of restraint. and although it was not a particularly memorable experience overall, I would say that the novel is still quite commendable as well. no complaints from this corner.
they don't stay virgins for long!
Review
time to strip down...
for the British soldiers stationed in late 40s-early 50s Malaya at the Panglin Base on Singapore Island, there is one element that impacts them all: the intense, pervasive heat. clothing becomes unnecessary for these soldiers, a burden, and so those clothes are quickly discarded throughout the day and night. the soldiers are stripped down in other ways as well: young, inexperienced in matters of love and death, their personalities only barely formed, virgins in their lack of experience in war, in the understanding of life itself. there is a sameness to these recruits, a shared lack that gives them a sort of anonymity. trade one out for the other and you'd barely notice a difference. the writing and the story itself are likewise stripped down. this is not a novel of gorgeous prose or of adventure after adventure. The Virgin Soldiers is about life on a sleepy base, one where the war against communist guerillas barely encroaches. it is a book about small moments, ways to amuse yourself when bored and stuck in one place. and so Thomas describes his story's anecdotes with a certain nonchalance, a lack of poetry, using only the occasional splash of vivid imagery to brighten the pages. it made the reading experience an easy and swift one, but a rather forgettable one as well.
time to fuck...
with soldiers who have so much time on their hands and so little to do, in their teens and early 20s, one obsession connects them all: their dicks. the book is frank and highly sexual, but it is not a sexy book. nonchalance balances frankness and so the end result is sexual behavior treated with a lack of heat and drama. whether they are contemplating their various erections in the barracks or getting it on with various Asian whores in a nearby city, reckless passion is rarely present; instead there is a constant and very prosaic horniness, an itch that always needs to be scratched. one of the things I appreciated about this book is Thomas' decision to include the perspective of Phillipa, the 20-year old daughter of a particularly repugnant Sergeant-Major. she dominates the thoughts of many soldiers, including the appealing protagonist Brigg and the admirable Sergeant Driscoll; her vaguely contemptuous disinterest that barely hides a deep well of seething anger in turn dominates the narrative whenever she appears. a fascinating character. I also liked the lack of homophobia in the offhand description of a pair of soldiers in love with each other, and I particularly respected the lack of sexism in the depiction of the whores that Brigg and his buddies return to repeatedly. the author's honesty and lack of issues, his refusal to be judgmental when presenting sexual relations and sexuality in general is really admirable.
time to die...
the base on Singapore Island may be a quiet one, its soldiers bored out of their skulls, but death still comes to call in The Virgin Soldiers. the horrible and tragic death of one of the female characters comes out of nowhere; its suddenness and the careless way it is described to Brigg was like a punch in the gut for both Brigg and me. likewise with the accidental death of a soldier who steps on a mine: a beautiful morning on the beach, young men swimming and playing football, a terrible explosion, body parts everywhere - and then a memory that won't go away for Briggs, or me. those are isolated incidences in the overall story, but death comes in a major way near the end of novel. a bandit attack on a train transporting civilians and soldiers returning from vacation is completely hair-raising. Thomas' decision not to alter the breezy nonchalance of his story nor to escalate his stripped-down prose into something more dramatic made this sequence particularly striking. the mayhem and confusion, the body parts, the moments of cowardice and heroism... all are reported in same casual way in which Thomas describes a bullfrog race a few pages earlier. a commendable show of restraint. and although it was not a particularly memorable experience overall, I would say that the novel is still quite commendable as well. no complaints from this corner.
May 22, 2016
It’s the curse of the book group, isn’t it? Someone suggests a book, and you think: yes, that will be a light, fluffy read, something to make us laugh, a bit light-hearted and not too heavy or intellectual. Well, it wasn’t intellectual, sure, but light? Fluffy? A book about incompetent National Service conscripts sent off to fight in the jungles of Malaya?
There were a few laugh out loud moments, it’s true. And the book had some potential to be the comic novel it was billed as. Perhaps when it was first published in 1966 it resonated more harmoniously with the experiences of others who had served their time in the immediate post-war years. There was a risque element, too: the inexperienced ‘virgin’ soldiers (in the literal and metaphorical sense) whiling away dull moments in their two years by dreaming endlessly of finally losing their virginity, and finding willing helpers amongst the local prostitutes. In the newly unlaced sixties, that must have shifted a few copies.
But with the benefit of almost half a century of hindsight, the writing style is flat and emotionless, the characters are eccentric but not really interesting and the story is episodic and jumpy, hopping from near-farce to heavy war-zone experiences without the slightest change in tone. For me, it didn’t work at all, and I gave up at the 27% mark, looking up the rest of the plot on Wikipedia. One star for a DNF. Oh, and the rest of the book group didn’t much enjoy it, either, with the exception of one lady who went on to read the sequels with gusto.
There were a few laugh out loud moments, it’s true. And the book had some potential to be the comic novel it was billed as. Perhaps when it was first published in 1966 it resonated more harmoniously with the experiences of others who had served their time in the immediate post-war years. There was a risque element, too: the inexperienced ‘virgin’ soldiers (in the literal and metaphorical sense) whiling away dull moments in their two years by dreaming endlessly of finally losing their virginity, and finding willing helpers amongst the local prostitutes. In the newly unlaced sixties, that must have shifted a few copies.
But with the benefit of almost half a century of hindsight, the writing style is flat and emotionless, the characters are eccentric but not really interesting and the story is episodic and jumpy, hopping from near-farce to heavy war-zone experiences without the slightest change in tone. For me, it didn’t work at all, and I gave up at the 27% mark, looking up the rest of the plot on Wikipedia. One star for a DNF. Oh, and the rest of the book group didn’t much enjoy it, either, with the exception of one lady who went on to read the sequels with gusto.
December 18, 2023
I first read this book about 40 years ago and I’m pleased to say that it’s every bit as good as I remember it.
The tale of young conscript soldiers in Singapore during the Malayan Emergency of the 1950s is based on the author’s experience of National Service and it shows. Leslie Thomas is sometimes thought of as a bit of a literary lightweight but there’s some seriously good writing here. The descriptions are vividly memorable and the characters leap off the page.
The young soldiers don’t want to be there and the old sweats in charge of them – mostly rejects from other bits of the army or damaged in WWII – don’t either. At times it’s jaunty, but when things get serious the action is sudden and brutal.
It’s a story that veers between funny and poignant, often on the same page, and there are parts that will stick with you long after you’ve finished reading.
The tale of young conscript soldiers in Singapore during the Malayan Emergency of the 1950s is based on the author’s experience of National Service and it shows. Leslie Thomas is sometimes thought of as a bit of a literary lightweight but there’s some seriously good writing here. The descriptions are vividly memorable and the characters leap off the page.
The young soldiers don’t want to be there and the old sweats in charge of them – mostly rejects from other bits of the army or damaged in WWII – don’t either. At times it’s jaunty, but when things get serious the action is sudden and brutal.
It’s a story that veers between funny and poignant, often on the same page, and there are parts that will stick with you long after you’ve finished reading.
December 11, 2023
Bought this one on a hot autumn day in Mdina, while rummaging through a box full of books of an antique shop ;
I carried it with me consistently in the beach bag and yet I did not dare to start it ; I thought I m not gonna horn up myself on this holiday , potentially triggering unholy thoughts . Little did I know that I would be slightly disappointed 2 months later ;
I will cherish the joy I had after I purchased it tho, like I always do when buying books
The book itself is a light read, but the mundane of the every day life of a bored soldier participating in frog races and being basically a kid , was not enough for me .
I carried it with me consistently in the beach bag and yet I did not dare to start it ; I thought I m not gonna horn up myself on this holiday , potentially triggering unholy thoughts . Little did I know that I would be slightly disappointed 2 months later ;
I will cherish the joy I had after I purchased it tho, like I always do when buying books
The book itself is a light read, but the mundane of the every day life of a bored soldier participating in frog races and being basically a kid , was not enough for me .
March 23, 2016
The Malayan Emergency was not classed as a War for insurance purposes. Lester could have made a joke about stupidity of the name of the 12 year conflict which killed 6,710 guerrillas, 1,345 Malayan troops and police, 519 Commonwealth personnel and 2,478 civilians. In a world exhausted by WWII, frightened of communism and wars in Korea and Vietnam, the Malayan Emergency was the only conflict where the imperialists defeated the guerillas and left the country on a base to a stable future of independence.
Thomas's novel stayed free of the political issues and focused on the lives of British conscripts based in Singapore. Most of the conscripts and their NCOs and officers carry physical or mental ailments. While it is funny in many parts and has a bent towards what interests 19-21 year olds (sex) the book leads to a violent attack on a train which reveals what the people in Malaysia had to face.
This is a little understood conflict, dwarfed by the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Lester reminds us that no matter the scale of the conflict, the impact on individuals is the same.
Thomas's novel stayed free of the political issues and focused on the lives of British conscripts based in Singapore. Most of the conscripts and their NCOs and officers carry physical or mental ailments. While it is funny in many parts and has a bent towards what interests 19-21 year olds (sex) the book leads to a violent attack on a train which reveals what the people in Malaysia had to face.
This is a little understood conflict, dwarfed by the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Lester reminds us that no matter the scale of the conflict, the impact on individuals is the same.
October 29, 2011
This book was so much better written and more full of depth, plot, descriptions and rounded characters than I was expecting given its reputation. It contains the best description of a fight that I've ever read.
October 30, 2013
A bawdy, Carry On-esque wartime farce that eventually jars. Some riotously funny moments here and there but the plot seemed to wander like a lost puppy.
March 21, 2022
The reviewers seemed to bill this book as something of an erotic farce but I found it to be much more than that. Set just after WW2 in Malaya which was occupied at the time by British troops to quell a communist guerrilla uprising, the story centres around a unit stationed away from the combat/action near a jungle village where nothing much happens.
The troops are made up mainly of young conscripts serving their time and a few older veterans of WW2. Most of the young corps spend their days thinking of home and sex! Women at the base are thin on the ground although the enigmatic Colonel's daughter becomes an object of desire to some of the lads but for any real action, the soldiers have to go to the local town where such activities have to be paid for.
Not surprisingly it feels dated. There is little to link the story to any kind of life in current times, but it sets a good pace, the characters are well defined, there is a lot of humour but not so much as I would consider it primarily a comic novel. It does not purport to be a literary masterpiece, indeed at times it might be a bit lacking in this area but never so much that it detracts from the story or put me off reading it.
As the story unfolds, the main characters get involved in various adventures and indeed there are some moments of real danger and even death so despite the carefree days at the camp, there are constant reminders that this is a live military situation.
I enjoyed it and feel a bit stingy not giving it 4 stars!
The troops are made up mainly of young conscripts serving their time and a few older veterans of WW2. Most of the young corps spend their days thinking of home and sex! Women at the base are thin on the ground although the enigmatic Colonel's daughter becomes an object of desire to some of the lads but for any real action, the soldiers have to go to the local town where such activities have to be paid for.
Not surprisingly it feels dated. There is little to link the story to any kind of life in current times, but it sets a good pace, the characters are well defined, there is a lot of humour but not so much as I would consider it primarily a comic novel. It does not purport to be a literary masterpiece, indeed at times it might be a bit lacking in this area but never so much that it detracts from the story or put me off reading it.
As the story unfolds, the main characters get involved in various adventures and indeed there are some moments of real danger and even death so despite the carefree days at the camp, there are constant reminders that this is a live military situation.
I enjoyed it and feel a bit stingy not giving it 4 stars!
August 20, 2020
I like the character Dangerous Davies and remember seeing the movie based on the book as a child, so read this out of curiosity, but worried about its potential for racism and sexism given the time it was written and the subject matter. Some of its attitudes are of their time and there is sex and violence, but it is a thought provoking and interesting account of an ugly colonial war from the perspective of teenage conscripts. At first I thought it would be a series of humorous anecdotes about life far from the front, like Tracy Kidder's autobiographical My Detachment, with a similar frankness about sex work and STDs. However, it is cut through with sadness and action sequences build along with the sex sequences. Both a guilty pleasure and a thought provoking read.
October 18, 2017
I love this book. I have read it at least 3 times and it never loses its freshness. It focuses on a small group of conscripted soldiers posted to Singapore during the Malayan emergency. The boys are generally over sexed and under requited. They are also fairly callow, allowing the author to create a catalogue of humorous incidents. Against this humour there is the background of the conflict. Periodically the author brings us back to reality with some real world trauma. This is a book not to be missed.
September 22, 2020
I love the Virgin Soldiers trilogy, really brings to life how it must have been on national service and then as a squaddie in Singapore and Hon Kong. Full of great characters and enagins incidents the books are not as funny as I suspected and in some ways quite poignant. Very entertaining reads however.
August 26, 2021
abandoned at 69%
Unfortunately, this sucked. I thought I'd like it but eventually it became too unempathetic and outdated for me to want to read some more.
Which is a shame because I enjoyed the beginning a bit, but in a zeitgeist reading (which is pretty fun) it gave some interest, but it just sucked too much to continue.
Unfortunately, this sucked. I thought I'd like it but eventually it became too unempathetic and outdated for me to want to read some more.
Which is a shame because I enjoyed the beginning a bit, but in a zeitgeist reading (which is pretty fun) it gave some interest, but it just sucked too much to continue.
October 7, 2021
The Virgin Soldiers- Davies
Good descriptions of characters. Creates the jungle atmosphere and human strengths and frailties. A first class read. highly recommended. atmospheric and well edited.
Good descriptions of characters. Creates the jungle atmosphere and human strengths and frailties. A first class read. highly recommended. atmospheric and well edited.
September 20, 2025
I can see why this would have been successful when it was published, and it is still interesting from a historical perspective, although full of "attitudes of the time". I guess I wanted a bit more political context, although I accept this is not the book for that.
March 25, 2019
Funny semi-autobiographical novel about British National Service soldiers set during the Malaysian Emergency in the late 1940s or 1950s.
July 10, 2019
A classic
2nd time I have had the pleasure of reading,Leslie Thomas 's classic, just as good,I had forgotten how well he crafts his stories
2nd time I have had the pleasure of reading,Leslie Thomas 's classic, just as good,I had forgotten how well he crafts his stories
March 30, 2024
Fast paced, so well written. Funny ,sad, violent . Great characters. well recommended.
June 7, 2025
Leslie Thomas is certainly a fantastic writer. He has had some great works published and many of them are studied in schools and universities, this being one of them - but it just wasn’t for me.
It does offer up a lot, there are passages which will strike a cord with many people in so many ways, I appreciate that.
The book brings out some elements of emotion and allows you to empathise with some of the players but I just couldn’t identify enough with any of them or find myself truly caring enough about them to invest myself in their passage through this story.
There scenes that might make you smile but not any real ‘laugh out loud’ moments. There are others that make you sad and empathic toward the bungling soldiers who were stationed to suffer in the Malayan Jungles but on the whole just not enough to make me really concerned enough about their fates or those around them.
I read it casually, getting though it rather than truly enjoying it but even at 50 years of age I felt that it was a novel for readers of an time before mine.
It saddens me to give only 2 stars but that is the way it os for this one.
It does offer up a lot, there are passages which will strike a cord with many people in so many ways, I appreciate that.
The book brings out some elements of emotion and allows you to empathise with some of the players but I just couldn’t identify enough with any of them or find myself truly caring enough about them to invest myself in their passage through this story.
There scenes that might make you smile but not any real ‘laugh out loud’ moments. There are others that make you sad and empathic toward the bungling soldiers who were stationed to suffer in the Malayan Jungles but on the whole just not enough to make me really concerned enough about their fates or those around them.
I read it casually, getting though it rather than truly enjoying it but even at 50 years of age I felt that it was a novel for readers of an time before mine.
It saddens me to give only 2 stars but that is the way it os for this one.
September 23, 2025
This novel is bad on so many levels. Interested in how many levels of bad there are. Read it for yourself and find out.
May 31, 2012
I got this at a dollar at the second hand shop, because I found the pulpy cover amusing. Imagine my surprise when it actually turned out the be pretty good! An interesting story about a young woman who has relationships with two soldiers. While she thinks the older one will be after sex and the younger after love, it is actually the other way around. All around them is the devastating war that brings people together only to tear them apart. From my layperson's point of view, it was a good depiction of the time and place.
October 18, 2013
I had assumed that this was going to be semi-literate smut - sort of "Confessions of A Squaddie". Far from it! In spite of its reputation for being a bit 'racy' this is a beautifully written book with very little in the way of sex and quite a lot in the way of well-drawn characters, evocative story-telling, humour and pathos. Why have I been avoiding Leslie Thomas all these years? Suffice to say I have already ordered a whole batch of his other novels.
June 14, 2014
Somehow, I am unfortunately unable to connect with the book flow. The settings though are very vivid. Even when the title says "virgin", the Main character; Brigg, did not stay virgin for a long time since the beginning of the book. I love how the author explicitly described the interaction during the sexual encounter without it being intimidating. Personally I was waiting for a climax part throughout the book but I fail to discover it. Overall this is an ok book..
January 18, 2015
It was a long trip and there was only one book, this one. I don't even like war books and really only read this because there was nothing else.
There are very few books that made me laugh out loud but this is one of them.
There a few books that get tears from me but this one did that too.
What a find.
There are very few books that made me laugh out loud but this is one of them.
There a few books that get tears from me but this one did that too.
What a find.
May 26, 2014
Not a bad read, but I found it somewhat disjointed and hard to latch onto the characters. Some very funny moments and some quite harrowing, gave you an idea about serving your National Service in Malaysia, but not a patch on Milligans war memoirs.
August 16, 2014
Classic tale of military naivety set in the humid jingles of South East Asia. Not a tale of action more of the banality of life under a colonial flag. Great read, sometimes, sometimes rather poignant, it's a reality check for those who want to remember a bygone era through rose tinted glasses.
August 3, 2024
Curled leaves were lying in worried groups about the paths and lawns, waiting pessimistically for the wind or the broom.
December 22, 2013
I've read this book three times now and probably will again
October 30, 2014
I read this a while ago. I would probably read it again.
Read
May 17, 2014Virgin soldiers
May 10, 2016
A group of young soldiers dream of becoming romantically involved with their superior’s daughter.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews