Robert Graves never truly expected "White Goddess" to become the classic it has. However, along with "I, Claudius" & "Goodbye To All That" it may well be the only book the general public remembers him for. It is certainly unique in the field of poetry & caused much controversy that still rages on today in poetic, historic & religious circles. Graves called it "a historical grammar of poetic myth" & while that may sound a little vague there may be no better way to define it. "White Goddess" is based on the theory that true poetry isn't the free & interpretive verse that most people believe, but is instead spiritual in function & governed by ancient pagan religious ideas. It seeks to express, in a language of traditional mythic symbols, the five-fold stages of a never ending life & death cycle. Graves attempts to trace the origins of this mythic language back to ancient Europe & suggests that it may have even originated before the building of stonehenge. In the process of researching this mythic language he explains history in mythic terms & myth in historical terms, throwing new light on both by use of his "analeptic" method, which he argues is a valid form of research. Graves argues that true poetry, by it's very nature, is pagan & that the druids were it's undisputed masters. With the coming of Greek philosophers & later Christian missionaries, the true function of poetry & myth were lost. He uses countless references to support his claims & the reader should be familiar with Greek & Celtic history & mythology to get the most from this book. A familiarity with Frazer's "Golden Bough" is also recommended. Some of his history is flawed & his ideas of an early universal calendar-alphabet is highly suspect. However, he still succeeded in his goal. He created, or recreated, a valid & functional mythology for modern poets to apply to their work. In doing so he unknowingly also set the standard for the modern neo-pagan movement. The book has become accepted as one of the founding texts in the pagan community for it's insight into the meaning & function of mythology. Not to mention it's call for a more liberal & less dogmatic belief system.

Seeing this reprint in H/b - was a great pleasure. Grevel Lindop has done us all a favour - getting this organised. Always a controversial book, it's a great read - the sort of thing you can open and dip into for years - and still find something fresh iand stimulating. Even if deemed tendentious, at times, it is always a catalyst. Graves' poured great imagination and encyclopaediac stretches of information into this book - essentially his definition of what truly makes a poet - a poet, being a moon struck follower of the white goddess. While I personally subscribe to the view that there may be several different poetic functions - there is something compelling about Graves' basic argument - that poetry is a kind of service to the Goddess, that poetry is something 'magical' - poesis a kind of loss of self, even a kind of 'crucifixion' on the cross of time and space, altho' Graves' would probably have deemed that too Christian sounding. Still, he does suggest that an engagement with poetry - with the Goddess, involves a kind of 'dismemberment' - much like Nietzsche's feeling for the 'Dionsyian' experience - and, like Nietzsche, rather scornful of what 'Apollonians' get up to - in the name of poetry (or anything else). Graves elaborates this theme - with a kind of 'stream of consciousness' detour through several different cultural milieus - chiefly, focusing on the 'Celtic' tradition - and its Graeco-Roman equivalents, always returning to his starting point - the motif of the mother-son/lover-goddess object relationship. In the concluding chapters of the book, Graves concedes that this may become a kind of diffused presence, the 'great mother' in the cosmic sense, thus manifest in the entire creation. Graves' work had its problems, not least the notion that he could present his magnum opus - really a 'visionary' work - as a piece of serious scholarship. As such, the W.G. did not receive recognition from the scholarly fraternity. However, it did strike a chord with the artistic community, the avant garde, virtually achieving 'cult status' for a while - in the 60's. My only complaint about the new preface or introduction - by Grevel Lindop, is a certain ambivalence about who Graves' main audience was - when it mattered most? Graves' 'hippy' readership attracted rather pejorative comments in this respect, as if to suggest that Graves found his niche with the 'orthodox' - which was certainly not the case. Indeed, the same editorial comments go on to link Graves' name (and the W.G.) with 'magic mushrooms,' Hoffmann's discovery of LSD - and the counter-culture which gave the W.G. its greatest audience. That Graves eventually took the Chair in Poetry - at Oxford, was a rather belated tribute. As an editorial consideration, it would have been nice to see a little more attention devoted to the fact that Graves' later association with Idries Shah and the Eastern tradition led to a complete volte -face on Graves' part, vis-a-vis the negative comments accorded to it in the W.G. Still, these are niggles. It's great to see a new H/c edition of the W.G. Given the price, it would have been nice to see proper 'boards and bands' holding the book together. The type of binding used is a cheaper, less substantial h/c format. I say this, because many people keep reading the W.G. - for years, and it deserved decent bindings.A glorious, inspiring chaos!

I found The White Goddess very early on my Pagan path, and instantly fell in love. It was far more original and evocative than anything I had read up to that point, and was decisively influential on my developing spiritual views. Now, years later I still hold this book and its author in high esteem, although I am aware of the problems and shortcomings of Graves and his work. Graves isn't a rigorous acedemic, but he does have a wide knowledge and, more importantly, a poetic sensibility. He does get off-topic, and The White Goddess does drag at times, but that can only be expected of a book of this breadth and scope. And yes, Graves has created in The White Goddess a personal religion, with all the idiosyncracy which that implies - but this is the work of a thoughtful and informed individual with a passion for the Goddess. Though I do not share Graves's outlook on many things - I quickly weary of the sacrificed king theme - The White Goddess is an inspired and inspiring work, and one of profound impact on modern Pagan thought.

I just don't know about this book. ... I got it out of library, started reading it and came across this passage:

"For example: 'Everyone this autumn is wearing amusing antelope-skin gloves.' This may have been true in 1934 of every woman, or almost every woman, of a certain income level in certain London districts; elsewhere it was demonstrably untrue. Fashion notes of this sort ... historians will find them most misleading."

Are these guys for real? Two distinguished authors, one a professor of English literature, apparently totally missing the point and purpose of "Fashion notes". It hardly needs to be said that historians are probably the last people for whom these fashion notes are written, at least if my own experience of historians' dress-sense is anything to go by.

And then there's this example from a letter by an evacuee girl in the second world war:

"'The old cat was on to me yesterday about being careful with my crusts. I bet she's careful enough with hers, the old ... I don't suppose she'd give one to a beggar-child, not if it was starving. I must waste not and want not and put everything in the savings bank ... I must bow down to her as if she was a little tin image. I must get out of this place before I go potty.'"

Here is Graves and Hodge's analysis:

"Great care must be taken to let the reader know just when the ironical note is sounded and just when it ceases ... The three 'I must's here are not parallel. The first is the reported advice of the Old Cat; the second is the writer's ironical deduction...; the third is the writer's practical decision, given without irony."

Now, what exactly do Graves and Hodge intend by presenting this example? Are they saying that the girl's letter does NOT make it clear when she's being ironic? Coz frankly I think it's stunningly clear. To anyone. I think it's a remarkably well written letter, lucid and eloquent -- which is why Graves and Hodge were so easily able to explain the precise function of each 'I must' in the first place.

Graves and Hodge have themselves been guilty of a lack of clarity here -- are they criticising the letter or not? -- and for a book about good style in written English this is unforgivable.

Robert Graves was one of the best writers of his era, but as this book shows, he was also a Puritan when it came to language. While this book contains many useful tips, it is also pedantic and argumentative. As many of the reviewers noted, Graves and Hodges often illustrate poor writing with examples that seem, in an initial reading, to be sound. Perhaps this merely shows that modern readers are being anaesthetized by bad prose, but I don't think so. If Graves and Hodges loosened up a notch or two they would have written a much better book.

The authors leave the topic of style a little too early for my taste, making the book more of a guide to editing than a guide to writing well.

Still, the book focuses on developing a prose style that is logical, clear, and succinct--the backbone of all good prose.

THWACK! Down comes the headmaster's birch-rod on the sensitive knuckles of the bumbling pupil. Botch that passage again, lazybones, and I'll have your hide!

Poet-novelist Robert Graves and historian Alan Hodge have written a delightful book containing a very quirky 126-page critical history of English prose, a few short chapters listing every conceivable principle of clear & graceful writing, followed by some 200 pages of the most carping, anal-retentive editing & revising you've ever seen. Unlike most style-book authors, who criticize hypothetical or anonymous examples of bad prose, Graves & Hodge courageously tackle many of the biggest names of their era (Hemingway, Aldous Huxley, Bernard Shaw) and relentlessly pick, pick, pick until the carcass is clean and the bones lie strewn about the lair. Then they put it back together again PROPERLY, the way the author should have done it the first time. As G&H themselves note, the book might as well be subtitled "A Short Cut to Unpopularity".

Of course, if any headmaster ever treated me the way G&H treat their victims, I'd be outraged. Luckily, we are not one of their hapless victims suffering under their harsh tutelage; so, although we wince in sympathy with those being raked over the coals, we can also profit greatly from their chastisement. "The Reader Over Your Shoulder" is the most painstaking and explicit guide ever published on the craft of revising one's prose. Ideal for self-study. But beware: G&H get under your skin and stay there. Even as I write this review I can sense these two meticulous sadists hovering over my shoulder and I ready myself for a thrashing.

This review refers to the out-of-print, unabridged 1944 edition.

In 1914, while serving as an officer of the Royal Welch Fusiliers during WWI, Robert Graves was instructing his men in regimental history when he came across the name of a Sergeant Roger Lamb, who had served in the Fusiliers during the American War of Independence. Later, while living in Princeton, NJ, he was struck by the pride residents took in the local connection to Revolutionary War history, specifically, Washington's triumph over the Hessians. The result of these two happy coincidences is this terrific historical novel.

The subtitle of the book is: "A novel of the American Revolution told in the stirring words of an enemy who was also a good soldier." I doubt that description can be improved upon. Drawing on actual events and characters, Graves' Sergeant Lamb narrates the Fusiliers role in events up to the British defeat and the capture of his unit at Saratoga. Lamb is a wise and witty observer, as well as a professional soldier. His running critique of the Colonists and the obstacles they faced, particularly the difficulties presented by the rag tag nature of the Continental Army, only serve to deepen our sense of wonder at what they accomplished. And Lamb serves to remind us of the fundamental decency and professionalism of the British soldiers.

GRADE: B+

Sgt Lamb is an awsome character! Robert Graves bases this novel on the actual life of a British soldier in the American War of Independence. Sgt. Roger Lamb wrote his memoirs of the war that serve as the basis for this book which is a good read on its own. The novel has the added elements that keep those who dislike dry historical works excited and interested in the story. There are some minor historical errors but overall it is a great novel. I found the book so great that I searched all over the east coast for a used copy of the sequal "Proceed Sgt. Lamb" which tells the remaining story of Roger Lamb. I eventually found a copy and eagerly read it. This book is out of print but is a must read if you read the first book because the ending of "America" leaves the reader hanging. I highly recommend this novel and the sequal.

Continuing his life-long work writing some of the best historical fiction ever, Graves turned his attention to the American Revolutionary War. He follows the adventures of Roger Lamb as he enlists for the British army in Ireland and ends up on the losing end of the Battle of Saratoga.

Along the way, Graves fascinatingly describes the world of the British colonies -- both Canadian and future American -- as well as the life of the Indians, although the beginning is a bit bogged down with Lamb's theories regarding the war itself. Except for the beginning, Graves keeps the book at a fairly brisk pace as we witness the often moving adventures that Lamb experiences, both in battle and out.

Interestingly enough, Sergeant Lamb was a real person, and his regiment -- the Welsh Fusiliers -- was the same as Graves' was in WWI.

There is a sequel to this book, the publication of which I am anxiously awaiting.

I read this book directly after reading All Quiet On The Western Front and found it a very intersting comparison. In many ways I found that Graves' detatched detailing of the horror was the most distressing. It's amazing how different two perspectives can be on essentially the same experience. The story described in this autobiography is a quite shocking but incredible one. You will especially enjoy it if you hold a specific interest either WW1, the early 20th century literary scene or, even better, both.

Graves wrote his autobiography as a young man shortly after his service in WWI. It provides a graphic portrayal of life on the front lines in the trenches of France, as well as the attendant horrors of recuperation from wounds and shellshock in hospitals at home.

Graves knew most of the English war poets, such as Sassoon, and was regarded as a member of their ranks.

If you like autobiographies, this is one of the classics.

The religiously correct belief is that Genesis was inspired by, even dictated by, the supreme being. But if you're interested in the Bible as part of our cultural heritage, you end up asking some very secular questions. These stories must have had some kind of existence before they were incorporated into the Judeo-Christian canon. Where did they come from?

Barring some extreme archeological breakthrough, the original sources for the Genesis myths are lost forever. But the authors make quite a serious attempt to reconstruct them from surviving literature, especially the Talmud. Robert Graves was particularly well qualified to attempt this, given his unorthodox take on mythology and his poetic approach to literary interpolation. By the same token, anything Graves did in this area is bound to be controversial -- is it literature, or scholarship?

In fact, it's both, and neither. Ultimately, it's another Gravesian attempt to give us a glimpse into a part of our history that's obscured by the very religious and literary monuments we most revere. Possibly not historically accurate, this is material that needs to be read, least we lose all sense of where we came from.

People familiar with Laxalt's work know that he mostly writes about the Basques, which is his own heritage. This book is a moist, sincere, heart-warming ramble around the Basque countryside, based on Laxalt's stay in Basque country in the early seventies. It is not a novel; it is rather a series of vignettes of traditional Basque life, with an eye toward revealing something of the Basque character. Sometimes Laxalt himself is a character in the action, such as at the slaughter of a pig or when some French bikers create a stir in a Basque tavern; more often he is an anonymous observer, such as in the singing contest or the meeting of the three poets. Some of the chapters are less than a page long, and might be described as prose poems.

The book is disarmingly short; I think I read it in two hours. But you can't resist how it makes you feel good, and makes you want to spend your next vacation in the Pyrenees. If you're a Basque enthusiast, it's a must read.

Very Interesting book for those avid readers interested in the few years before and after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The book shows how England decieved the Arabs by making false promises of independence once the Arabs completed thier revolt against the Ottomans. Arabs ended up with British and French mandates instead. Lawrence was himself betrayed by his own government. The book gives a lot of detail on the daily life of bedouins, so some might find it interesting. The author should have dealt more with Lawrence's view of Zionism and the Balfour declaration and British policies in the region.

"The Long Week-End" by novelist Robert Graves (author of the equally recommended memoir of WWI, "Goodbye to All That") and journalist Alan Hodge (with uncreditted research assistance by Karl Goldschmidt) is a kaleidoscopic survey of British life between the wars. First published in 1940, this highly readable, impressionistic history of the interwar years is based primarily on newspaper accounts and personal memoirs from the time. Arranged in chapters covering a range of topics making up modern life, from "Reading Matter" to "Sex", from "Post-War Politics" to "The Depression," Graves and Hodge capture the spirit of a time frozen between the two great disasters of the twentieth century.

As a social history, "The Long Week-End" dwells more on matters of manners and daily living; matters of more interest than of "historic" note, such as the rise and fall of Eurythmics, Golfinia McIntoshii, the Lookatmeter, Mr. Grindell-Matthews' death ray, and Colonel Barker the transvestite English fascist. If you want to learn about the significance of the Rapallo Agreement or the Stresa Conference you should probably look elsewhere. Here you can read about M'Intosh and Parer's almost forgotten flight from England to Australia in a broken-down WWI bomber bought for a few pounds. Or of Horatio Bottomley, who grew rich through successful, but crooked, lottery schemes and then lost it all. You'll learn more about the Archdeacon Wakeford case than the Four-Power Pact.

Reading the book brought up parallels to modern times, showing that the more things change the more they stay the same. Moralists attacked the immorality of the times, popular music, books and movies were blamed for the lowering of the standards of decency and culture, the older generation decried the lax mores of the young, the high brows decried the intrusion of American low-brow culture, etc.

"The Long Week-End" is written in a mock serious tone of an anthropologist describing the strange customs of some lost Amazonian tribe. "The Twenties did indeed,: the authors quip, "temporarily raise the mental age of the average theatre-goer from fourteen to seventeen." "...the early film-star," they observe, "usually grimaced at his audience like someone trying to convey news of terrific importance to a stone-deaf and half-witted child."

Graves, who originally thought "lull" (as in "lull between the wars") should be in the title, had entered into writing the book, in part, to provide some financial assistance to his friend Alan Hodge. Graves collaborated with Hodge in the same year on "The Reader Over Your Shoulder," a manual of style. The book benefits from a judicious use of quotes from newspapers. The "Authors' Note" lists a number of topics skipped over, leaving me wanting to know more about the Mannin Beg steeplechase for racing cars. The book reminds me of Otto Friedrich's book on Berlin in the 1920s, "Before the Deluge," which readers might want to also search out.

This is the story of Sergeant Lamb, an English soldier in His Majesty's Service during the American Revolution. Sober, full of common sense and intelligence, the reader instantly takes a liking for the main character and narrator of this historical novel by Robert Graves, author of well-known novels like "I, Claudius" and "Claudius the God". Our likeable sergeant tells the story of his fascinating adventures during the first stages of the American uprising, giving the fresh perspective of an common Englishman to these events. Graves is a master in capturing the reader's attention and interest and this is one of those books that makes for the pure reading fun every reader is always looking for. Remco Groeneveld

As a huge fan of Claudius and a lesser fan of some of Graves' other works this one comes at the very bottom of my list of preferred RG titles. The plot is ungainly, the action is plodding and the overall point to the novel seems obscured by Graves greater interest in the wider view of Roman society, which is all very well but goes unexplored in the text.

After the directness of the persona in 'I, Claudius', I was shocked by the boredom induced by this book.

Re-read 'Claudius' for the thirtieth time, its a better and more entertaining use of time than this.

This was a fine book by a great author. While "Goodbye to All That" undoubtedly was Graves' best work, "Count Belisarius" runs a close second. Graves takes us on a journey through the unbelievable achievements of this extradorinarily virtuous man who was so little appreciated by his emperor. Graves puts his own spin on some of the historical events in the novel - or at least he disagrees with some earlier historians - but the novel is well written and gives a great insite into the causes for Rome's decline and eventual collapse.

Mine is a biased judgement. This book started me off on a lot of very fruitful and productive thinking about Graves's novels. It's funny, gripping and a wonderful blend of rewriting of the 18th century sentimental classic by Marmontel with contemporary anthropology, classicism and a touch of personal speculation. The narrative context is entirely plausible and the story shows that Roman politics were as sordid and twisted as ever even after the Roman conversion to Christianity.