Heh ... no wonder you were interested in the Pat Barker Regeneration trilogy! A Test of Wills sounds very familiar -- I think I have that written down somewhere on a "To Read" list.

For a piece of historical fiction, it has very little scene-setting ...

*nods* That's one of the real challenges in writing historical fiction -- the question of how many small details to add in order to make it "real" to the reader, and at the same time not overwhelm them with too many details. It's a real tightrope to walk, sometimes.