The Last Post is the concluding chapter in Ford's Parade End's series. The critics were divided on whether Ford should even have written this novel as it gives short shrift to the main character, Christopher Tietjens, from the earlier books. However, others believe it had redeeming qualities, mainly to do with the symbolic nature of the Tietjens family, and that Ford's writing from the perspective of two characters is what makes this a highly readable book. The book begins: He lay staring at the withy binders of his thatch shelter; the grass was infinitely green; his view embraced four counties; the roof was supported by six small oak sapling-trunks, roughly trimmed and brushed from above by apple boughs. French crab apple! The hut had no sides.