Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In the twenty-first century we know that soldiers returning from war often are victims of a mental condition called PTSD, where they are subject to flashbacks, depression, nightmares, and other mental disturbances associated with witnessing traumatic events. During World War I this condition was generally known as shell shock. Many considered shell shock a by-product of cowardice, and it was not really known how to treat soldiers suffering from it. Discuss when and how PTSD affects the characters in A Test of Wills. Does it make the witnesses' testimony more or less reliable? Does it only affect the former soldiers? In the case of Ian Rutledge, what impact does his PTSD have on his ability to do his job as an inspector?

The main character, Ian Rutledge, is a former soldier who has returned from war to pick up his...