Before Action - A Poet on the Western Front
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Before Action - A Poet on the Western Front by Charlotte Zeepvat
The Great War may have made Hodgson's reputation as a poet but it also killed him. Like so many of his generation he was an unlikely soldier and this first groundbreaking biography explores his early life and his reasons for abandoning it and volunteering for the Army. Today Hodgson is remembered as one of the ill-fated 9th Battalion The Devonshire Regiment whose fate in the opening moments of the Battle of the Somme has become one of the emblematic stories of the most costly day in British military history. Before Action draws on Hodgson's own writing and letters of his fellow officers to recreate the life and demise of a volunteer battalion from its formation in 1914 to its virtual destruction. Through their eyes and words we experience war: the Battle of Loos, where Hodgson won the Military Cross and the buildup to the Somme. At the same time the Author uncovers the hidden meaning of Hodgson's poetry. Its themes of family, friendship, grief and remembrance strike cords a hundred years on.
Charlotte Zeepvat has an MA in History and has written extensively on 19th and early 20th century subjects and contributed to television and radio programmes. Her previous books include Prince Leopold [1998], Romanov Autumn [2000], Queen Victoria's Family [2001], The Camera and the Tsars [2004] and From Cradle to Crown [2006]. She has a longstanding interest in the Great War and its literature and contributed a chapter on William Noel Hodgson to Salute to the Soldier Poets [1990] and research, writing and artwork to Poets of the First World War [Leo Cooper 1996]. Charlotte lives near Hastings, East Sussex.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781783463756 |
| ISBN 10 | 1783463759 |
| Title | Before Action - A Poet on the Western Front |
| Author | Charlotte Zeepvat |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Pen & Sword Books Ltd |
| Year published | 2015-02-01 |
| Number of pages | 256 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |