Published in 2003, Private Peaceful is a young-adult novel by English author Michael Morpurgo, notable for his children's book War Horse. The book is written from the perspective of a soldier discussing his life experiences both before and during his service in the English army in World War I. The story moves from the countryside of England to the battlefields and trenches of France. Towards the end, the reader discovers that the narrator is staying up the entire night because his brother will be executed for desertion the next morning.
The novel was adapted into both a play and a film, both of the same name. The latter was directed by Pat O'Connor and starred Jack O'Connell and George MacKay. Like the book, it was overall critically well-received.
