SIEGFRIED SASSOON. TWAYNE'S ENGLISH AUTHORS SERIES. by Sternlicht, Sanford. (Siegfried Sassoon.) - 1993

New York: Twayne, 1993. 136 pp, 8vo (8 3/4" H). "Born into a privileged family in Kent in 1886, Sassoon spent a largely unremarkable childhood. Upon completing his last year at the distinguished secondary school Marlborough College, a schoolmaster wrote of him: 'shows no particular intelligence or aptitude for any branch of his work; seems unlikely to adopt any special career'. After two years at Cambridge and a few more pursuing gentlemanly pastimes, Sassoon decided to concentrate on his poetry, which remained mediocre. This was to change with his entry into the army, just a few days before Britain entered the (First World War), and the inspiration the horrors of trench warfare provided him. His war poems were to have an immediacy and vibrancy unmatched by any he had written before. In this study, Sanford Sternlicht examines not only this poetry but Sassoon's other literary endeavours, including the widely acclaimed 'The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston', to create the most comprehensive study of him to date. The first book to profit from the publication of the Sassoon diaries in the 1980s, (it) is an authoritative and well-balanced introduction to the life and work of a fascinating writer. It also provides strong evidence against the popular view that Sassoon was a purely Georgian poet, placing his combat poetry squarely in the modernist tradition. Sassoon's copious post-World War I satirical and religious poetry is fully explicated and evaluated.". Hard Cover. Near Fine/Near Fine.