2014 marks the hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of what many believed would be the war to end all wars. And while the First World War devastated Europe, it inspired profound poetry - words in which the atmosphere and landscape of battle are evoked perhaps more vividly than anywhere else. The poets - many of whom were killed - show not only the war's tragedy but the hopes and disappointments of a generation of men. In Some Desperate Glory, historian and biographer Max Egremont gives us a transfiguring look at the life and work of this assemblage of poets. Wilfred Owen with his flaring genius; the intense, compassionate Siegfried Sassoon; the composer Ivor Gurney; Robert Graves who would later spurn his war poems; the nature- loving Edward Thomas; the glamorous Fabian Socialist Rupert Brooke; and the shell-shocked Robert Nichols all fought in the war, and their poetry is a bold act of creativity in the face of unprecedented destruction. Some Desperate Glory includes a chronological anthology of their poems, with linking commentary, telling the story of the war through their art. This unique volume unites the poetry and the history of the war, so often treated separately, granting readers the pride, strife, and sorrow of the individual soldier's experience coupled with a panoramic view of the war's toll on an entire nation.

This book presents the story and issues of the First World War in a clear, concise and objective manner, accompanied on every page by photographs, original sketches, or maps.

“An officer’s diary hidden away for 40 years reveals the horrors of World War One in harrowing detail.” —The Sun Some Desperate Glory charts the progress of an enthusiastic and patriotic young officer who marched into battle with Palgrave’s Golden Treasury—a collection of English poems—in his pack. Intensely honest and revealing, his diary evokes the day-to-day minutiae of trench warfare: its constant dangers and mind-numbing routine interspersed with lyrical and sometimes comic interludes. Vividly capturing the spirit of the officers and men at the front, the diary grows in horror and disillusionment as Vaughan’s company is drawn into the carnage of Passchendaele from which, of his original happy little band of 90 men, only 15 survived. “This diary of a few months in the life of a young officer on the Western Front in 1917 deserves to rank close behind Graves, Owen, Sassoon, among the most brilliant and harrowing documents of that devastating period.” —Max Hastings, author of Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975 “This stark WW I diary by a 19-year-old subaltern in the British army begins with an account of his eager departure for the western front, and ends eight months later with an awesome description of the battle of Ypres in which most of his company died.” —Publishers Weekly

The war in Afghanistan is over, but the memories will live as long as its veterans. This is their story. 'Riveting. Evocative. Spine Chilling. Taste the bullets and the fear. Kiley writes like a dream, taking the reader into the heart of the heat, blood and dust of the Afghan nightmare' Damien Lewis 'A triumph ... Without hyperbole, without any softening or glamorising effects, he takes us to the battlefield and shows us its grimness' Evening Standard In the dust and blazing heat of Helmand, the young men of 16 Air Assault Brigade find themselves in the most relentless battles faced by British troops in recent history. As the only writer to have obtained unprecedented, unrestricted access to the front line, Sam Kiley is with them to bear witness to the most intense challenges of their lives. Desperate Glory is an unflinching portrait of the reality of war - the bombs, the shooting and the daily struggles that push them to the very limit of human endurance.

Winner of the 2020 World Fantasy Award! From Astounding Award winner and Crawford Award finalist Emily Tesh An ALA RUSA Reading List Selection "A true story of the woods, of the fae, and of the heart. Deep and green and wonderful.”—New York Times bestselling author Naomi Novik There is a Wild Man who lives in the deep quiet of Greenhollow, and he listens to the wood. Tobias, tethered to the forest, does not dwell on his past life, but he lives a perfectly unremarkable existence with his cottage, his cat, and his dryads. When Greenhollow Hall acquires a handsome, intensely curious new owner in Henry Silver, everything changes. Old secrets better left buried are dug up, and Tobias is forced to reckon with his troubled past—both the green magic of the woods, and the dark things that rest in its heart. Praise for Emily Tesh's Silver in the Wood "A wildly evocative and enchanting story of old forests, forgotten gods, and new love. Just magnificent."—Jenn Lyons, author of The Ruin of Kings At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

From Astounding Award Winner and Crawford Award Finalist Emily Tesh A Buzzfeed Summer 2020 Must-Read A Book Riot Must-Read Fantasy of 2020 The conclusion to the World Fantasy Award-winning Greenhollow Duology Drowned Country is the stunning sequel to Silver in the Wood, Emily Tesh's lush, folkloric debut. This second volume of the Greenhollow duology once again invites readers to lose themselves in the story of Henry and Tobias, and the magic of a myth they’ve always known. Even the Wild Man of Greenhollow can’t ignore a summons from his mother, when that mother is the indomitable Adela Silver, practical folklorist. Henry Silver does not relish what he’ll find in the grimy seaside town of Rothport, where once the ancient wood extended before it was drowned beneath the sea—a missing girl, a monster on the loose, or, worst of all, Tobias Finch, who loves him. Praise for Silver in the Wood "Exquisitely crafted. . . . This fresh, evocative short novel heralds a welcome new voice in fantasy."—Publishers Weekly "Find a quiet place in a nearby wood, listen to the trees whisper, and thank the old gods and new for this beautiful little book, of which I intend to get lost in again and again."—Book Riot At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.