Edward Thomas, poet, essayist, and critic, with some thirty books to his name, was thirty-nine when he was killed in the Arras offensive on Easter Day, 1917. F.R. Leavis singled him out as "an original poet of rare quality," and he is generally considered one of the finest poets of the modern era. This luminous biography, based on the author's complete access to the papers of Thomas--including some eighteen hundred letters--offers an intimate glimpse into the life of this great poet, drawing the reader into the strains of Thomas's personal life, revealing the characteristically contrasting sides of Thomas's perceptions, and analyzing his empathy with Robert Frost and the increasing confidence of his last best work in poetry.