Book Description

Book Description
Memoirs Of A Fox-Hunting Man Siegfried Sassoon Early Days - The Flower Show Match - A Fresh Start - A Day With the Potford - At the Rectory - The Colonel's Cup - Denis Milden as Master -Migration of the Midlands - In the Army - At the front Originally published in 1928. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Obscure Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

An excellent perspective of a world reluctant but forced into change
I read this book because of my early love of the War Poets, Sassoon, Wilfred Owen and Robert Graves.
What I had not expected was to find myself transported into a nearly forgotten time where Summer was glorious and England was feeling safe, secure and on top of the world.
Yes, they knew that things were a "bit iffy" in Europe. Yes they could see that the USA and Germany could challenge them economically - if not on the seas.
I had read Robert Massie's book Dreadnought which had a solid military-political perspective of the time following Bismarck and his unification of Germany.
This book filled in the missing pieces in my mind to show just why the English and Europeans were so unprepared to fight a total war. And why the aristocracy was so casually careless of the lives of ordinary soldiers.
I wept for the innocence of young men suddenly thrown into the teeth of machine gun fire and massive explosive shells. I smiled and felt comfortable at the descriptions of park cricket at a time that this was the noblest conflict that a young man might pursue.

From the Hunt to the Front
Perhaps the best way to classify "Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man" is as an autobiographical novel; the details and events described are Sassoon's personal experiences in disguise.This book serves as the first of a trilogy, covering the author's early days up through his initial military service during WWI.Even though it is written as a novel, the truth of the author's life shines through.

The narrator of "Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man" is George Sherston, a young orphan left to live with his aunt in the remote English countryside.He is a shy, reticent and awkward boy who learns gradually to flourish under the tutelage of his aunt's stablehand, Tom Dixon.Dixon teaches young George to ride and play cricket, and as he grows he eventually makes a name for himself among the fox hunting circuit and among horse racers.George drops out of Cambridge to pursue a life of leisure (one that he cannot afford) and finds himself entering the military just before war is declared.

The narrative is surprisingly fast-paced and evocative to begin with.Sassoon has a manner of drawing readers into the story through the quaint and idyllic reminisences of a spoiled young man.Yet readers may soon become distracted with George Sherston's snobbery, his diffidence towards those who care about him and have his best interests at heart, and his pretentious attitude towards his station in life.There are also times when readers can see the author shining through his characters, in scattered asides he drops the mask he holds before him and tells it as it is."Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man" may not be for everyone, but is a definite must-read for any fan of Sassoon's poetry; it is a window into the world of a man who helped to shape the course of literature after WWI.

Interesting Vignette on Rural England Dreams Whilst the World Heads for Disaster
I read this book because I entered Sassoon first by reading his "Memoirs of an Infantry Officer." Since Sassoon has always been one of my favourite poets I thought this would allow me to see into the mind of one raised in the English Countryside at the turn of the 20th Century.

There is a lot of fox hunting here and if I was encouraged to be more sympathetic to a bunch of upper-class twits running in their finest allowing hounds to do most the work, then this book, for all its description did not engender such feelings. (Being born in Canada, real men and women hunt their animals on foot, are forbidden from using dogs in any form of hunting and a real man shoots one's game over open sights... preferably after that person has hiked over a few mountains on foot. The game is then carried out of the bush, by yourself. There are no manservants, no shared drinking of spirits or chance to rest). But the descriptions of rural life and Sassoon's existence between some limited previledge yet not quite a member of the upper classes was an interesting perspective on this time.

Sassoon writes well and economical. There is little real adventure here and the book would be one that I could recommend to someone who is thinking of touring the quite country lanes of Kent in the summer time, or open whilst on top of Downs on a sunny day. It is a reflection of rural (but not country) life in the soft cotton covered English existence while the world heads for collective insanity.

Sassoon and book eventually drift to war and the last third of the book is about him forsaking Cambridge, taking a commission and eventually heading to the front. While around him his mates, his footmen and other collegues are blown to pieces or otherwise changed unalterably by the war. Sigfried ends the book after the disasterous battles of Loos (where Kipling's son was killed) and the writing style starts to take on a melancholy and more stark tone continued in his "Memoirs of an Infantry Officer".

A good book and one worth the read for the country vignettes.

Languid evocation of Rural U.K. ca. 1900
This is a very good place to commence the life of Sassoon, better known in my country as a great poet of the First World War. Having only the briefest of equestrian experience in rural Dorset and the slightest of brushes with the class structure existing even in a small village, most of Sassoon's marvellously recounted youth falls well beyond this Aussie's radar. I found the quaint rituals of horseriding and foxing fascinating; the fact of a life so given to the pursuit of pleasure, utterly bemusing. Sassoon's everpresent sense of how protected all this was, and how he could place such significance, say, on the purchase of a riding cap, saves this work from charges of class pretension. Though an acute observer, he is amazingly free, in his writing, from the sense of superiority exuding from many of the class he aspires to join.The idyll comes crashing down with the outbreak of War, and the loss of his closest friends are sobering moments, never milked for any self-pity. His writing is exquisite,full of easy phrasings that scroll as readily on his page as the gentle topography of those pleasant pastures green. As eloquent as the succeeding volumes of this series are, I believe this is the most satisfying. Is that, perhaps, because the catostrophe of the trenches was so brilliantly trapped on silent film? iMAGES OF The Great War jittered across our tele screens in the mid 1960s, possibly with the hidden message of consolidating youthful support for our conscription to the Vietnam conflict. I was almost paralysed with fear each Sunday as I sat hypnotised before the unspooling of those oancient black and white atrocities. The effect induced a wholesome loathing of nationalism and all futile expressions on foreign soils.

A touching glimpse ofrural England
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. ... Read more

Book Description
This large print title is set in Tiresias 16pt font as recommended by the RNIB ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Sassoon
Like his poems, this book is short, to the point, and well worth reading.Highly recommended

The Base Details of War
I admit I am not one much for poetry, but ever since I read Martin Gilbert's THE FIRST WORLD WAR, which was replete with poetry written in the heat of battle, I've learned that verse is one of the most effective ways for a combat veteran to communicate the experiences of war. Siegfried Sassoon's aptly-titled WAR POEMS, compiled by Rupert Hart-Davis, is less a book of poetry than a guided tour through the muck, duckboards and barbed wire of No Man's Land.

Sassoon was a paradox as a human being. A sensitive and cultivated man and a world-famous poet when still in his twenties, he was also a ferocious fighter on the battlefield, dubbed "Mad Jack" by his men and a holder of the prestigious Military Cross. Disenchanted by the wastage and slaughter he had experienced, in 1917 he wrote a denunciation of the war and was promptly shut up in an asylum in Craiglockhart, Britain, where he composed many of the poems that appear in this book. Later he returned to the front and was shot in the head, but survived and enjoyed a prolific and diverse writing career, somewhat annoyed (as Hart-Davis tells us) that he had gone down in history as a "war poet." Reading this book, however, it is easy to see why.

Hart-Davis has arranged the 111 poems in chronological order, so that the reader can follow Sassoon's emotional journey from a naive young subaltern filled with a quasi-religious sense of mission (in 1915) to an embittered, half-delirious veteran driven to the edge of his sanity by relentless horror. And truly his poems run the range of emotions, from the mundanities of trench life ("A Working Party"; "In An Underground Dressing Station") to the moments before the ball went up ("Before the Batlle") to fury of combat itself ("Counter Attack") and its aftermath ("Died of Wounds"). Every aspect of the war is discussed, from war-fever to cowardice, from the bungling and incompetence of generals to the bluster of civilians back in England. Sometimes he's filled with rage and grief; other times with admiration and pathos (as with "Remorse", his paen to German prisoners run through with bayonets after an attack). But always there's the keen intelligence, the gift for words, the startling ability to convey image in just a few syllables, that mark the true genius-writer. See "The General:"

"Good morning, good morning" the general said
When we met him last week on our way to the line
Now the soldiers he smiled at are most of 'em dead
And we're cursing his staff for incompetent swine
"He's a cheery old card," grunted Harry to Jack
As they slogged up to Arras with rifle and pack.

But he did for them both with his plan of attack.

Of course quoting from the best of the WAR POEMS would fill 30 pages, so I'll leave you with the words of "Base Details."

If I were fierce, and bald, and short of breath,
I'd live with scarlet Majors at the Base,
and speed young heroes up the line to death.

You'd see my puffy petulant face,
Guzzling and gulping in the best hotel,
Reading the Roll of Honor, "Poor young chap."
I'd say -- "I used to know his father well;
Yes, we lost heavily in this last scrap."
And when the war is done and youth stone dead,
I'd toddle safely home and die -- in bed.

THE COST OF QUALITY
There's no question that Siegfried Sassoons's is the finest of the World War I poetry. How the poems are presented to the reader is A PROBLEM. Publishers employ "lick and a polish" guys who excell at slight touch-ups to a graphic design that enables the corporation to double the book price. THIS BOOK."THE WAR POEMS OF SIEGFRIED SASSOON",COSTS TOO MUCH. If Sassoons poems were the value for the money, hooray. But we're not paying the money to Sassoon. Sassoon has been dead for half a century. Sassoon does not, therefore, benefit from the high cost of the publication. Poems: GREAT. book: OVER-PRICED.

Siegfried Sassoon's War Poems
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 withbite, sarcasm, and some bitterness, but at the same time they are elegantlyrhymed 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 wroteof their war experiences brought home the irony of that innocence in theface 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 andstared at the dug-out door. Down in the frowst I heard them snore."Stand to!" Somebody grunted and swore. Dawn was misty; the skieswere still' Larks were singing, discordant, shrill; They seemed happy; butI felt ill. Deep in water I splashed my way Up the trench to our boggedfront line. Rain had fallen the whole damned night. O Jesus, send me awound to-day, And I'll believe in Your bread and wine, And get my bloodyold sins washed white!

This collection includes the notes that Sassoonadded 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 feellike 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 ofpoetry is to allow us to see through some of life's darker experiences,then this collection is well worth your reading and reflection.

Ouch!
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 deploresand decries both the necessity of doing so and the method forced on him ofcarrying out his honorable charge.

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

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

KellyWhiting ... Read more

Book Description
Personal narratives of a British officer on the Western front during World War I. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Classic Tale of Educated English Life Smashed into Disillusion of WWI
Continuing tale of the Cambridge-educated English Officer living the hell of warfare on the Western Front: replete with adoring batman, blustering colonel Blimps, out of control colonials (Australians and Canadians), journeys to England on home leave to meet misinformed civilians. Sasson has a style that waxes between light and lyrical, cynical and dark and starkly realistic. It is reminiscent of Graves but less dark than Blunden.

This is a tale of the human mind (an upper crust mind) that makes the journey from old world to that of the lost generation -- but Sassoon never loses himself. It shows that the mind-set was already there capable of dissecting and throwing away the old world view tradition. With capable honesty Sassoon relates the contradictions in life, army and mind set of the pre-war generation. He still takes advantage of the liesure of the educated class; his batman pours his tea, he still sees the colonials as slightly quaint and backwards (especially the Australians), still finds refuge among his educated Cambridge intellectuals -- this is no tale of class struggle.

This book can read as part of his trilogy lifestyle or on its own. It has many haunting vignettes and is perhaps one of the top 5 WWI memoirs. Highly recommended.

Sassoons's great work
Terrific book that sounded a bit autobiographical. Sassoon, of course, was a war hero on the battle of the Somme, decorated twice for bravery.

The book reads lyrically and is convey's nicely the daily life of soldiers moving back and forth from the front fighting trenches to the rear area of the battle field. He also does a great job portraying the strangeness and inner conflict of being back in British society (while recovering from illness) with people who know nothing of the war or its cost to the participants.

A Brit's version of "All Quiet ..."

Vivid account life at the front line during WW1.
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" .

Memoir in the tradition of Graves and Orwell
Siegfreid Sassoon's wonderful war memoir is thinly disguised as the story of George Sherston. Based solely on Sassoon's life in the trenches of WWI, it recounts the horror and scale of carnage that occurred. More importantly it shows the emotionally scars that the survivors carried with them as a result of exposure.

Sherston (Sassoon) was a rather spoiled and pampered young upper class Englishman. The war changed all that. Confronted with death, destruction and idiotic leadership from the High Command you sense the inner turmoil of Sherston.

Relieved when he is not involved with the fighting he is driven by guilt over the loss of the soldiers in his battalion. Consequently when his platoon is on the line he takes great risks in reconaissance of the German positions.

The effects of non-stop total war, stupid leadership and the complete contrast between England and the trenches (only a few hundred miles apart) is staggering to Sassoon. Sassoon becomes anti-war and considers becoming an objector, but his obvious connection to his comrades and loyalty to them wins out in the end. He hates the war but won't abandon his comrades in the field.

This is a great war memoir written by a poet who survived and was changed for life by his experiences in it.

One of the greatest prose artists ever
Even if you are not a student of history or the First World War this is an interesting read.Sassoon paints pictures with his words which not only perfectly describe his surroundings but also give the reader a unique glimpse into the mind of a man suffering, yet unable to help those around him.
This book is important historically not only because it is a first-hand account of almost the whole of The Great War, but because it is a record of a psuedo-successful personal revolt against the British Military establishment, as well as giving the reader the author's experiences with meeting some very famous people, including winston churchill. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (7)

A Classic!
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.

One of the great books about World War I.
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.

A true classic
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 amere string of unrelated anecdotes compared with Sassoon's modest,humorous, poignant account of his own youth, which takes us from hischildhood in Kent to the end of his military career after the First WorldWar.Don't hesitate to read this book, especially if you enjoy seeing theEnglish language used at its very best.

The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston
I find this book completely compelling, particularly volume 2 (Memoirs of and Infantry Officer). The descriptions of degradation experienced by those who fought in the trenches and their ability to create a sub-culture ofderring-do is powerful in its modesty.Sassoon's mounting frustration isskilfully portrayed, especially in his allusion to details about provisionfor and management of warfare. His ennui is almost palpable on those trainjournies across France.

The first volume (Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man)is possibly of more interest to those of us born and raised in the parishwhere Sasson himself lived. I enjoyed playing 'spot-the-location', but mustdeclare that I am in possession of a comprehensive list, produced byBrenchley History Society,of pseudonyms/real names.

The writing in thisvolume has some of the lyrical quality of his autobiography (The OldCentury and Seven More Years - out of print)on which it is based. Ratherthan a treaties on Hunting, I consider this to be a gentle study of theawakening of Sassoon's poetic sensibilities; the Hunt and the relationshipshe formed with particular characters was, for him, an early catharsis. Theyalso augur the events and characters in the following volume.

The finalvolume (Sherston's Progress)is probably most poignant if one is aware thatthis is, indeed, a thinly veiled autobiography. Sassoon's heroism is, forme, as great beyond the era of World War I as it is within it. This volume should certainly be read within the context of the previous two, but standsalone as a testament to the debt future generations owe to the perseveranceof men such as Sassoon.

What's Wrong With Foxhunting?
A rhetorical question.I've looked for these memoirs off and on in used book shops for years, chiefly because I remembered the first, foxhuntingvolume so fondly.I don't agree at all with the other reviewers that thissection of the "memoirs" is dull.If you like animals orlearning about lost sports and conventions--alpine climbing when it was aclub activity, say, or round-the-world sailing--you'll enjoy Sassoon'sdescription of hunts and hunters, especially those of the equine sort. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (3)

Don't let this writer disappear
Siegfried Sassoon has much more to say about the world, indeed about our times, then some much more contemporary writers.

While many people focus on his 'war poetry,' his relationship with Stephen Tennant, and his family's wealth and fame, what I find most striking is his ability to document a time of change, the first decades of the 20th century.The changes in England at that time: a time of the lowering importance of an aristocratic class; the demise of agrarian values; the changes in mores and manners, are they really that different then America in the first few years of this century with its shift of importance to the blue states; diminishing value of science; a nation where someone thinks up the idea to protest at a soldier's funeral.These changes are as puzzling to me as mustard gas, and a diminishing of un-earned income was to Sassoon.

Do yourself a favor.Read all you can by and about this brilliant man.I would suggest you start with "Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man."

Seigfried Sasson, The Poet
The horrors of World War I are usually set forth by historians, but the poets paint a seriously moving portrait. Sasson is one of the best. I do become tired of the author constant reference to Sasson's sexual preference.

Siegfried Sassoon:A Life
This is probably the most boring, worst book I have ever read.It is filled with miniscule details which are of no interest and devoid of his romances, affairs, and real personality. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description
Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967), soldier, poet, and witness to a century of war, is an icon of the twentieth century; Jean Moorcroft Wilson is the leading authority on him. In this two-volume biography, she offers her definitive analysis of his life and works. The first critically acclaimed volume, covering Sassoon's life up until the end of the Great War, offers rich material on his poetry, his patriotism, and his anti-war stance.In volume two, Moorcroft Wilson reveals the truth of Sassoon's life after the armistice, when most people thought he was dead; the story includes a series of love affairs with such larger-than-life characters as Queen Victoria's great-grandson, Prince Phillip of Hesse, the flamboyant Ivor Novello, and the exotic and bejeweled Stephen Tennant. But this was also the period of Sassoon's close friendships with the greatest literary figures of the age, including Hardy, Beerbohm, E.M. Forster, and T.E. Lawrence.
Written with the cooperation of Siegfried Sassoon's family and friends, and with access to a mass of private and unpublished material, poems, diaries, letters, and photographs, this meticulously researched biography will be the standard work on Sassoon's life and legacy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An Enlightening Life of a Minor Poet
What makes some poets great and leaves others to become forgotten by history?To be fair, you can't call Siegfried Sassoon forgotten, since Jean Moorcroft Wilson has spent twelve years or more researching every known fact of his life.And because he lived into the era of VietNam and the "summer of love," an astonishing number of people who are still alive remember him.She has done a wonderful job combing through his papers and coming up with real, solid evidence about the facts of his life, the emotional, sexual and aesthetic complexities of the man.

And yet at the same time, one thinks that she is making slightly a mountain out of a molehill when it comes to her failed attempt to build him up as a writer of permanent interest.Sassoon interested the generation of Georgians who followed the dictates of taste that Edward Marsh laid down, yet at the very moment of his ascension, a counter-revolution in taste, fomented by the American poets Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot, and their Irish colleague W. B. Yeats, were spreading modernism all over the critical map.And even though modernism has lost its iron grip over the popular imagination, the tide has not turned back to the days when a versifier like Sassoon is once again on top of the heap.He was talented, he was tormented, he went to bed with the handsomest men in the world, but his writing isn't all that.Too bad.Still, the book is a fine one and will give you a wonderful sense of period detail--of several periods--in British history since World War I. ... Read more

Product Description
June 1921. No. 46. Vol. 8. Regent & Windsor. Paperback. Contains Poems, Translations by various writers. Portraits of James Joyce and John Clare. ... Read more

Amazon.com
This biography appears in the midst of a small Sassoon revival. Although not the sprightliest of writers, Jean Moorcroft Wilson gives a comprehensive and well-rounded impression of Sassoon, drawing on much new material, including both sides of his correspondence with T.E. Lawrence. "Unlike the many writers who lead sedentary lives," Wilson notes, "[Sassoon] was a man of action caught up in the bloodiest conflict in history." In the early 1920s, still glowing from the success of his poems of the First World War, Sassoon had imagined he would write a "Madame Bovary dealing with sexual inversion." But the poet who patrolled no man's land at night and whose initially romantic verses gradually came to encompass all the horrors of trench warfare could not find the courage to declare his love for men. One of the benefits of this late biography, as Wilson points out, is that she can now write openly of what Sassoon could not. --Regina Marler Book Description
Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967), soldier, poet, and witness to a century of war, is an icon of the twentieth century; Jean Moorcroft Wilson is the leading authority on him. In this two-volume biography, she offers her definitive analysis of his life and works. The first critically acclaimed volume, covering Sassoon's life up until the end of the Great War, offers rich material on his poetry, his patriotism, and his anti-war stance.In volume two, Moorcroft Wilson reveals the truth of Sassoon's life after the armistice, when most people thought he was dead; the story includes a series of love affairs with such larger-than-life characters as Queen Victoria's great-grandson, Prince Phillip of Hesse, the flamboyant Ivor Novello, and the exotic and bejeweled Stephen Tennant. But this was also the period of Sassoon's close friendships with the greatest literary figures of the age, including Hardy, Beerbohm, E.M. Forster, and T.E. Lawrence.
Written with the cooperation of Siegfried Sassoon's family and friends, and with access to a mass of private and unpublished material, poems, diaries, letters, and photographs, this meticulously researched biography will be the standard work on Sassoon's life and legacy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Engrossing
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.

Criticism or Biography
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.

Splendid biography of the great war poet, hero and sportsman
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!

A much needed biography
I was stunned several years ago to realize there was no modern biography of Sassoon so I was really looking forward to this book and in the end I was really pleased with it.It is perhaps a little too detailed(descriptions of the personalities of Sassoon's schoolmasters, etc.) andshe occasionally jumps around chronologically but Wilson does bring Sassoonto life.Rather than emphasizing his sexuality she puts it into contextand she follows his emotional development through his poetry.She alsodoes an excellent job sorting out the confusion of wartime events.I'mlooking forward to the next volume of this biography and I'd like to readher bio of Charles Hamilton Sorley, another war poet. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of Siegfried (Lorraine) Sassoon, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 2519 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author