Minds at War
The Poetry and Experience
of the First World War

David Roberts

410 pages 9x6" Paperback Illustrated Third Printing
ISBN 0 952 8969 0 7 £13-99 (UK)
Published by Saxon Books

"The largest anthology of poetry of the First World War"
250 poems by 80 poets, an encyclopaedic resource of poetry, history of the First World War, biographical and social context

Minds at War includes:

the largest collection of the great classic poems and poets of the war in a single volume
examples of the war's most popular and propagandist verse* (some of this now seen in print for the first time since the First World War)
poetry by women poets (strongly featured - 26 poets), and poetry of the home front
historical and biographical background material
extracts from diaries, personal letters and autobiographies of poets and contemporaries, illuminate the poetry
newspaper accounts, and personal comments of pundits, politicians and military leaders; the roles of the media and propagndists

* one poem, by John Oxenham, is reputed to have sold 8 million copies during the war

The poems people want to read

Classic poets include: Wilfred Owen (generally regarded as the greatest of the war poets writing in English), Siegfried Sassoon (unrivalled for his honest record of his changing views and feelings), Edward Thomas, Herbert Read, Isaac Rosenberg, Robert Graves, Vera Brittain, Edmund Blunden, Rose Macaulay, Eleanor Farjeon, Walter de la Mare, D H Lawrence, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, John Galsworthy, Ivor Gurney, Charles Sorley, John Masefield, David Jones, Rupert Brooke . . . in all, 250 poems by 80 poets - over 50% more poems than in the Penguin anthology of First World War poetry.

Cover of Minds at War

Minds at War -
The Poetry and Experience of the First World War

Comments/reviews

"Read this compelling book" - Rex Andrews in The Friend.

"Minds at War is no mere anthology but a comprehensive overview of the poetry and experience of the First World War. It includes the poets and poems one would expect to find plus a number of lesser practitioners and some outright surprises. David Roberts sets the poems and the poets' lives within a contextual commentary which keeps the story of the war moving forward and provides as many useful historic insights as poetic." - Peter Carter, The John Masefield Society Newsletter.

"I value this book: it's not only (uniquely) comprehensive, but enlightened and genuinely innovative in its integration of poetry with context." - Felicity Currie, author of the Textwise study guides to English literature*, former assistant chief examiner in A level English Literature, university lecturer.

"Absolutely wonderful" - Pat Davidson, Poetry Buyer, Waterstones, Worcester, speaking about Minds at War and Out in the Dark.

"Remarkable 412 page volume of the poetry and experiences of World War I. . . [Includes] hitherto neglected women, such as Vera Brittain, Rose Macaulay and Eleanor Farjeon. . . enhanced by intelligent detailed historical and biographical background material. . . Prose extracts include passages by Churchill, Haig, H G Wells, Arnold Bennett, Shaw, Bertrand Russell, Vera Brittain. Absorbing . . . stimulating . . . Do buy it," Ronald Mallone, Day by Day.

" Minds at War . . . is my favorite book of any category I have ever read." Jeffrey Alfier, Tucson, Arizona.

* A new Textwise guide on the poetry of the First World War is due out soon. More information is available from The Critical Forum, 10 West Street, Buckingham MK18 1HL

The "top 15" war poets in Minds at War (and number of poems by each in Minds at War)

	Poet in Minds at War	Number of poems in Minds at War
1	Siegfried Sassoon	33
2	Wilfred Owen	27
3=	Robert Graves* Edward Thomas	10 10
5=	Isaac Rosenberg Thomas Hardy	9 9
7=	Rudyard Kipling Henry Newbolt Charles Sorley	7 7 7
10=	Rupert Brooke William Watson	6 6
12=	Edmund Blunden Vera Brittain Herbert Read John Oxenham**	5 5 5 5
	* includes a poem not published for over 50 years ** Though little known today, Oxenham was easily the most popular poet of 1914-1918.	There are 99 more poems in Minds at War

For full list of poets and poems in Minds at War see List of Poets and Poems
Where to buy

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Minds at War The Poetry and Experience of the First World War