I do not read much poetry, but for various reasons I wanted to read some of the British WWI poets because I knew they didn't mince words about the horror of infantry combat. Sassoon does not disappoint. His poems drip with bite, sarcasm, and some bitterness, but at the same time they are elegantly rhymed and the images are powerful. War is nasty business, not glorious, and it is also stupid. WWI was the end of innocence and the poets who wrote of their war experiences brought home the irony of that innocence in the face of the devastation that was wrought. A sample will help.

Stand-to: Good Friday Morning

I'd been on duty from two till four. I went and stared at the dug-out door. Down in the frowst I heard them snore. "Stand to!" Somebody grunted and swore. Dawn was misty; the skies were still' Larks were singing, discordant, shrill; They seemed happy; but I felt ill. Deep in water I splashed my way Up the trench to our bogged front line. Rain had fallen the whole damned night. O Jesus, send me a wound to-day, And I'll believe in Your bread and wine, And get my bloody old sins washed white!

This collection includes the notes that Sassoon added as commentary on some of his poems. On the above poem Sassoon notes: "I haven't shown this to any clergyman. But soldiers say they feel like that sometimes."

This is poetry that grabs you and moves you, but it is a particular genre, not for everyone's taste. If one purpose of poetry is to allow us to see through some of life's darker experiences, then this collection is well worth your reading and reflection.

Poetry is one of my literary loves: but in this slim volume it is put to the task of exposing the soul of a young man who fights his nation's war because his honor demands that he do so while he simultaneously deplores and decries both the necessity of doing so and the method forced on him of carrying out his honorable charge.

A good friend once asked me what to read to properly understand the history of World War I and while I recommended several critical histories (Churchill's, Keegan's and B.H. Liddell-Hart) I also emphasized the necessity of reading All Quiet on the Western Front, Goodbye to All That, and the combined war poetry of Graves, Owen and, of necessity, Sassoon.

The poetry of WWI brings to life the soul of the experience in a way no history, no matter how talented the historian, can do. It translates you into Sassoon's body and mind as he experiences the horror and shock of absolute and directionless (to his view-point, not necessarily in reality) war. These poems bring the sounds and smells of violent death and horrendous suffering - massive destruction and heroic effort - into your ears and nostrils. Indispensible.

Kelly Whiting

If only one worthwile thing came from the forst world war (1914-1918) it may have been some of the finest poetry in the english language. Several poets represented here (Rupert Brooke, Edward Thomas, Wilfred Owen and others) lost their lives while ironicaly producing their finest works. This fine collection, splendidly arranged and read, gave me in turn feelings of hope, outrage, regret, humor, and resignation. The final work, Laurence Binyon's "For The Fallen" eulogizes the dead and their memory. Although written for the English dead, it serves well as a memorial for all war dead. Set against Elgar's "Nimrod" music, it is moving and emotional.

It is a commonplace observation that the Great War changed Western culture fundamentally and ineradicably, lending to formerly respectable sentiments like Horace's "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" an indelible bitterness.
Sassoon, one of the most prominent figures among Great War writers, produced a influential body of poetry and memoirs which are accessible and worthwhile today, yet the man himself is largely unknown, partly due to his own reticence. Moeyes, a Sassoon expert, in this admirably readable work traces the elusive writer's life and career with examples of his poetry and prose, examines his relationships with contemporary literary figures, and places his work in the context of Georgian poetry.
Highly recommended for students of English literature in general, and Great War writing in particular.

(The numerical rating above is an ineradicable default setting within the format of the site. This reviewer does not employ numerical ratings.)

Siegfried Sassons' "Memoirs of an Infantry Officer" is a first-hand account of life at the front line during World War 1. This is not a just a historical document or diary however. Sassoon writes via an alter-ego called George. In real life, Sassoon was an infantry officer who fought at the front, but eventually grew suspicious of the reasons for the continuation of World War 1, and as such became a dissenter. This book may be fiction, but it is based on fact and it gives an impressive account of what life must have been like in those trenches, nearly a hundred years ago. Sassoon's incredible ability with words paints a much more vivid picture than any war movie will ever provide.

George was a middle-class officer who had the luxury of a university education and was an avid reader of classic English literature. He juxtaposes the themes and ideas in this romantic poetry with the realities of life at the front to great effect. Although a tad repetitive in it's ideas (perhaps to get the point across clearly), this book is rewarding and still relevant this whole century later. As one character in the book says, "In war-time the word patriotism means suppression of truth" .

I already knew Siegfried from his poetry. Little did I know or suspect what a madman he was on the battlefield. Makes the poetry read a bit differently. He led raid after raid (and voluntarily!), possibly hurling more havoc and grenades on the enemy than any other single soldier. Luckily he was on our side. Toward the end of the war this highly decorated soldier begins to have his doubts about the madness of it all but few practiced it with more gusto. I first read about his heroics in Graves' Goodbye to All That(which is another excellent war memoir,& which also features a strange meeting at Oxford with that other legend you have probably heard of, T.E. Lawrence), both books will give you the war experience from the insiders who lived it. I would make a quick mention of the best war book of them all All Quiet on The Western Front but you read that already I'm certain, as well as that gem by Hemingway A Farewell to Arms. Graves and Sasson belong in that company.
....Ghastly dawn with vaporous coasts/
Gleams desolate along the sky, night's misery ended.
(from Sassoon poem "Wirers")

Sassoon did a great job writing this book, it shows the war in an other perspective than most books about WWI. I think he sees the social misunderstandings brought to the trenches and he does also see that some deeds are totally irrelevant to the duration of the war. Really good to read.-Thomas Scheuer

Sassoon's three volumes wrapped up into one take the reader into another world. First volume describes life in the English country, where a young George Sherston becomes completely immersed in fox hunting. To say he becomes consumed by this is an understatement. Sassoon's intimate depictions of the countryside, to include the life of a country gentleman are so detailed you can clearly "see" and feel how young George felt.

Volume 2, Memoirs of an infantry officer take George into the trenches of France, where again with graphic details, the horror and calamity of the fighting in WWI are brought to our attention. Of note is the latter part of the volume where Sherston's morals are challenged, and how he deals with this mental dilemma.

Volume 3 takes Sherston from the trenches of France, to a stint in Ireland and Palestine, but ultimately back to France where the novel is brilliantly wrapped up.

Sassoon's experiences in the war have given us perhaps one of the greatest novels from the era. The writing is absolutely outstanding and will give you pause to put the book down.

World War I had a far greater impact on Britain than the US for the obvious reasons that they were in the war for over four years and suffered horrific casualties. The literature produced by that war made a sharp break from what came before, which reflected the feeling in the country that the war had irrevocably changed life in Britain. This is well illustrated in Siegfreid Sassoon's "The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston," a fictional version of his own experiences. The first part covers Sherston's pre-war life, with his obsession with fox-hunting. This is so well written that you will enjoy it even if you don't have the least interest in the subject.

The next section, "Memoirs of an Infantry Officer" covers his experiences in World War I, during he is highly decorated. The horrors of the war, which many of Sassoon's class thought would be a great adventure, are accurately portrayed. Eventually he becomes disillusioned with the war, and writes a letter denouncing it that could have led to his court-martial. A close friend (Robert Graves in real life) gets him classified as having a mental disorder and he is sent off to a hospital to recuperate.

This book is deeply moving and is one of a handful of books that changed the way that the English-speaking world views war. Sassoon's writing style is plain on the surface, but its plainness makes the emotional impact all the greater.

I had heard of this book many years before I was tempted to read it, and now I truly regret my lack of interest in Sassoon up to this point. He is a great poet, but as a memoirist he absolutely sparkles. Robert Graves' book, "Goodbye to all that", often described as a classic, is a mere string of unrelated anecdotes compared with Sassoon's modest, humorous, poignant account of his own youth, which takes us from his childhood in Kent to the end of his military career after the First World War. Don't hesitate to read this book, especially if you enjoy seeing the English language used at its very best.

In 1917, Siegfried Sassoon threw his Military Cross into the Mersey River and published his "Soldier's Declaration" against the conduct of the war in France. Being a gentleman and an officer, Sassoon, instead of being clapped in irons, was sent to Craiglockhart Military Hospital, where he became the charge of Captain William Rivers, an anthropologist-turned-psychiatrist whose job it was to "cure" shell-shocked officers so that they could go back to the front lines.

This much is historical truth. Although that's a good place to start, the true achievement of Pat Barker's excellent "Regeneration" is the manner in which she invests these historical personages with vivid life and engaging personalities; particularly engaging is the evolution of the relationship between Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, who thanks in part to Sassoon's mentoring became perhaps the greatest of the war poets.

There are more stories in "Regeneration" than just that of Sassoon, however; Prior, who becomes mute after picking a human eye out of the ruins of a trench, or Burns, who can't eat after having inadvertently ingested human flesh in the trenches. Rivers, the center of Barker's trilogy, is also the common bond with these casualties of war. A profoundly humane man faced with the task of making war-shattered men whole enough to face the Front again, Rivers finds himself in a moral dilemma as deep and complex as Sassoon's- the constant need for experienced, "sane" soldiers who can withstand the pressure of the war, weighed against his recognition that their insanity is the logical response to the horror that was World War I.

Having just finished Paul Fussell's "cultural essay" on WWI called "The Great War and Modern Memory", I found myself compelled to read this fictionalized account of one of the main figures in Fussell's book, Siegfried Sassoon.

The historical background helped me enjoy this book tremendously, but it shouldn't take anyone long to be drawn into this compelling story about a doctor who is trying to "help" shell-shock victims recover so they can be sent back to the front. The characters are rich, the dialog is sharp, and the plot is riveting. Even the pacing, which I was afraid would drag at times, was excellent. Interestingly, the Sassoon story is only a thread that goes through the book; Barker populates the book with several touching stories and characters, some who become more important to the reader than Sassoon.

I dare you to read this book and not come away with a deeper compassion and sympathy for the soldiers of WWI.

It is not often that you find a book that actually makes you sit up and think about the message being conveyed by the author.

This really is a superb book in terms of the character creation and background description to the lives of the young soldiers fighting in the First World War. The relationship between Siegfried Sassoon and Dr. Rivers is an intricate and complex one that is never finally resolved, but both characters are subtly affected by the views of the other.

It is very rare to find a book in a modern literature genre that has a strong and convincing theme. This is one of the first books that I have read since William Boyd that creates an intriguing atmosphere and I am now embarking on The Eye in the Door which is also an equally excellent read.

Pat Barker, I believe, has emerged as one of the strongest authoresses since Iris Murdoch and Virginia Woolf, and I very much look forward to her future novels.

The orphaned writer leads us lanquidly through his legacy-supported life. Days are filled with cricket, horses and fox hunting but they soon become distant memories for him as he becomes a cavalry officer in the Great War. We leave him there, before the conflict is ended, as he continues to paint a picture of rural England at the turn of the this century. Ideal millennium reading, perhaps!

P.S.This is a classic English work and, as such, is readily available in the UK so I am surprised that you have it as out-of-print. It is Part 1 of a trilogy which I should have read for school exams 30 years ago but only, finally, got round to in June 1999

This beautifully written account of a well-to-do youth growing up in sleepy rural England in the years leading upto and including the Great War. Siegfried Sasson was one of the finest poets of the Great War, which he experienced first hand (he famously threw his medal into the sea in disgust at the war), however he only touches on the war in this book -- the incredible restraint just adds pogniancy though. I was deeply moved by this book (and Siefrieds war poetry). The book, perhaps somewhat autobiographical(?) describes in some detail the growth of a young rider into an accomplished hunter. There is also some interesting insight into early golf and cricket. While Fox-hunting may not interest some (indeed it is now scorned my many) -- do not let that deter you from reading this excellent book. The book captures, accurately I think, the flavor of rural Britain -- and the relationships that grow up regardless of class in many English villages (the English country village was in many ways the ideal community -- perhaps a model for the world to adopt). This is a wonderful book intended for anybody and everybody -- not just fox hunters.

This guide has enhanced my teaching of _Regeneration_ no end. And I feel confident in recommending it to my students. Even if they only read the first short chapter, about Barker's background and upbringing, I've found that it helps a great deal in putting this novel into context. I also like the links to useful websites provided at the back of the book (note to the Publisher: a couple of these no longer work properly).

I'd like to thank Ms Westman for producing this book. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has found it this helpful.

Ms Wilson needs to make up her mind whether to write a book of Literary Criticism or a biography. The book suffers from too much critical analysis of Sassoon's poetry and not enough about his life. Either he was an extremely boring and prosaic poet or Ms. Wilson needs to delve deeper into his intellectual and emotional development - really his cricket exploits and his hunting prowess does not lend anything to the very essence of his life. Ms. Wilson's prose is turgid and repetitive. An extremely disappointing work.

I'm ashamed to admit I'm not much of a biography reader. I can actually count on one hand the number of bio's I've completed and they have all been rather fluffy. After reading Pat Barker's wonderful WWI trilogy I was moved to find out more about Sassoon and discovered this book through a library search. I was a bit daunted by its length but have managed to read almost all of it in a couple of weeks. It reads quite easily and has actually at times left me reluctant to put it down. I am inspired to read biographies of Dr.Rivers, Robert Ross, and Robert Graves. I have also begun a better appreciation of poetry in general. Ms.Wilson writes on the assumption that her readers have knowledge of the technical aspects of poetry which I definitely lack. But she can be forgiven that. I am looking forward to reading Sassoon's memoirs and fiction. I will definitely read other installments of this fascinating biography.

The biography is artfully crafted with an entertaining balance between story and documentation. I found the level of detail fascinating and not at all constraining, very much like enjoying following brushstrokes in an impressionist landscape. The book broadened and deepened my appreciation of the man, the times, the War and the literary and cultural environment of the first two decades of 20th century Britain.

If Ms Wilson follows with further volumes of Sassoons biography, count me in as an enthusiastic reader!