Anthem for Doomed Youth - Softcover

Jon Stallworthy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1845292219 ISBN 13: 9781845292218

Publisher: Constable, 2005

Synopsis

Leading poet and former professor of English Literature, Jon Stallworthy, tells the story of the lives and work of twelve major poets of the First World War and provides selections of their best work. The First World War began with flag-waving, parades and poets inspired by abstract ideals. In part this reflected the national mood , but it revealed an almost universal failure to understand what modern mass warfare would really mean. The story of the 'war poets' is also the story of an awakening to the full horror of what the twentieth century came to know as 'The Great War'. Wilfred Owen said, 'My subject is War - and the pity of War'. He also said 'true Poets must be truthful'. The best war poetry was the work of writers who were also serving soldiers and was born out of their desire to tell the truth about what it was to be a soldier in the trenches - what it felt like, what it did to you and what it did to your fellow soldiers, friend or foe. The greatness of the poetry lay not just in the writer's talent, but in the unflinching accuracy with which it portrayed their terrible circumstances.

About this title

About the Author:

Jon Stallworthy, Senior Research Fellow of Wolfson College and formerly Professor of English Literature at Oxford, is an editor of The Norton Anthology of Poetry and author of the award-winning biography Wilfred Owen.

Review:

A fascinating look at the subject and pity of war & The accompanying photographs are compelling, the letters and diary excerpts very poignant. * Good Book Guide * An admirable balance is struck between accessibility and scholarly detail. * Anthony Radice, Contemporary Review * Movingly blends selections of poetry with commentary and documents * Boyd Tonkin, The Independent *

About this edition

• Publisher: Constable
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1845292219
• ISBN 13: 9781845292218
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192