How Many Miles to Babylon? by Violet Needham

They are commanded by Major Glendinning, a ruthless officer who shares Alec's mother's belief in the class system and divisions between rank, demanding that there be 'no flaw in the machinery'. Their only other friend in the army is Bennett, an officer with socialist ideas. In France the two friends are stationed together, but now divided by rank as well as class. Alec feels no compulsion to sign up until his mother tells Alec that his father Fredrick is not his biological father and in that moment he is so frustrated with his mother he impulsively signs up. Jerry signs up as his father is already in the British Army and the King's Shilling would be of great benefit to his mother. Their friendship is thereafter conducted in private until the outbreak of the First World War.

Alec's mother, who believes strongly in the class system of early twentieth century Ireland, discovers the friendship and forbids him to spend any more time with Jerry. His parents have a difficult relationship and it is stated that 'their only meeting place was the child.' He meets a local boy, Jerry, who shares his passion for horses. Alec, the son of Anglo-Irish parents grows up lonely and friendless on his parents' estate in Wicklow during the early years of the 20th century.

The story is the complex tale of a friendship between two boys in Ireland prior to and during World War I. The novel explores the relationship of two men, an Anglo-Irish aristocrat, Alexander Moore, and a lower class son of a labourer on his lands, Jerry, as they experience the First World War. How Many Miles to Babylon? is a novel by Irish writer Jennifer Johnston, first published in 1974.

How Many Miles to Babylon? by Violet Needham