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christynhoover's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
5.0
I met the author at a talk he gave this evening about war. When asked, General Sir Rupert Smith (retired) said that he always has carried it with him but does not write poetry himself.
This slim book does not include entire poems but rather 6-page spreads about eight WWI poets --including one woman. Brief excerpts of poetry (or sentences from letters home) and a sepia photo accompany each of the main biographical entries. Several of the featured poets survived the war.
The "Other Voices" section near the end briefly introduces 13 additional WWI poets whose nationalities include England, France, Germany, and the US.
There's a map of Europe which locates the "war front" as it changed --or didn't -- from year to year.
Overall the book is a very balanced "introduction" to the topic, presenting poets who were flush with patriotic enthusiasm (these were the ones who died early in the war) and others (vast majority) who chronicled the horror and tragic waste or war in their poems.
This slim book does not include entire poems but rather 6-page spreads about eight WWI poets --including one woman. Brief excerpts of poetry (or sentences from letters home) and a sepia photo accompany each of the main biographical entries. Several of the featured poets survived the war.
The "Other Voices" section near the end briefly introduces 13 additional WWI poets whose nationalities include England, France, Germany, and the US.
There's a map of Europe which locates the "war front" as it changed --or didn't -- from year to year.
Overall the book is a very balanced "introduction" to the topic, presenting poets who were flush with patriotic enthusiasm (these were the ones who died early in the war) and others (vast majority) who chronicled the horror and tragic waste or war in their poems.
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