Synopses & Reviews
The poetry from the Great War is among the most powerful ever written in the English language. Unique for its immediacy and searing honesty, it has made a fundamental contribution to our understanding of and response to war and the suffering it creates. Widely acclaimed as an indispensable guide to the war poets and their work,
Out of Battle explores in depth the variety of responses from Rupert Brook, Ford Madox Ford, Seigfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen, Isaac Rosenberg and Edward Thomas to the events they witnessed. Other poets discussed are Hardy, Kipling, Charles Sorely, Ivor Gurney, Herbert Read, Richard Aldington and David Jones. For this second edition of
Out of Battle, a substantial new preface has been added, together with an appendix on the unresolved problems concerning the Owen manuscripts. An updated bibliography provides useful guidance for further reading.
Review
“...a most impressive book...” —
Times Higher Educational Supplement“How simulative of ever-fresh speculation is Jon Silkin's logically developed exploration, sometimes impassioned and often exciting.” —The Times
Synopsis
The poet Jon Silkin explores in depth the crucial poems of the important poets of the Great War writing in English.
About the Author
Jon Silkin is Fellow of Poetry at the University of Leeds.
Table of Contents
Preface to Second Edition * Preface * Acknowledgments * Introduction * Thomas Hardy * Rudyard Kipling and Rupert Brooke * Charles Sorley and Others * Edward Thomas * Edmund Blunden and Ivor Gurney * Siegfried Sassoon * Herbert Read, Richard Aldington and Ford Madox Ford * Wilfred Owen * Isaac Roseberg * David Jones * Conclusion * Appendix: Wilfred Owen's Missing Folio * Select Bibliography * Index