A selection of poetry written during World War I. In the introduction Jon Silkin traces the changing mood of the poets - from patriotism through anger and compassion to an active desire for social change. The book includes work by Sassoon, Owen, Blunden, Rosenberg, Hardy and Lawrence.

Extraordinarily haunting thought-provoking and authoritative Myers poems are reflections of conversations he had with those who have lost husbands, wives, lovers, brothers, sisters sons and daughters. Heart-rending, revealing and often surprising they relate to conflicts past and present.

This anthology reflects the diversity of voices it contains: the poems are arranged thematically and the themes reflect the different experiences of war not just for the soldiers but for those left behind. This is what makes this volume more accessible and satisfying than others. In addition to the established canon there are poems rarely anthologised and a selection of soldiers' songs to reflect the voices of the soldiers themselves.

Though Siegfried Sassoon would argue the point throughout his life, most critics regard his war poetry, written during World War I, as the best of his writings. Like many of his artistic contemporaries, Sassoon embraced the "Great War for Civilization" with great fervor, and it was this passion that he brought to his earliest writings about the war. "Absolution," his first war poem, published in 1915, summed up his feelings: "fighting for our freedom, we are free." Fighting on the frontlines, Sassoon soon came to the conviction that his war for civilization was anything but civilized. And thus his writings took on a new tone, courageously denouncing a conflict that was no longer about "defense and liberation" but was for "aggression and conquest." Through primary documents and extensive research, the current work provides critical analyses of Sassoon's war poetry. Detailed examinations of each of the so-called trench poems show how the poet and his poetry were transformed through his wartime experiences and give the rationale for the critical consensus that the Sassoon canon is among the most significant in the literature of modern warfare.

Second War World Poems is a powerful anthology of poetry from the 1939-45 conflict. It includes verse written by servicemen who participated in the War - Keith Douglas, Alun Lewis, Randall Jarrell - as well as by survivors of the concentration camps like Primo Levi and Paul Celan. It also includes poetry by civilians in London, Warsaw, Moscow and New York, and by writers dealing with the terrifying legacy of the conflict and its aftermath.

The First World War cast its shadow over the 20th century. The poets were those most gifted to record the personal, moral and spiritual impact of those traumatic years. This anthology contains 250 poems by 80 poets, including photographs & maps.