In a few words
The poet’s classic, nostalgic account of Edwardian youth interrupted.
One of the most exquisite literary products of the early 20th century...James Wilby reigns in his narrative to start with, adopts a hectic pace for gallops over gorse and heathland, then slows again for the elegiac wartime coda.
The war we're told changed everything. Learning, as we begin to do here, how it changed the infinitely complex Sassoon is fascinating.
More about
the book
George Sherston – the ‘I’ of the book – is a shy, sensitive, and rather lonely boy living on the Kent/Sussex border in the early years of the 20th century. His great loves are sports, horses and hunting, and the story is told through his gentle and comic adventures at point-to-point races or village cricket matches in a privileged pre-War England. The picture he paints of the Garden of England in the age of pony carts, bicycles and very slow trains is enchanting.Rich in historical detail and resonance, Sassoon’s semi-autobiographical novel is also a poignant coming-of-age tale; with innocence and naivety abruptly crushed by the outbreak of War. George has to face a bleakly different world when he joins up and goes to the Front, to the mud and death and din of trench-life. Bit by bit it robs him of practically everything he values in life, and amidst the carnage he loses some of his dearest friends.
Narrator James Wilby is a successful British stage, television and film actor.
