POETRY

This collection of Vera Brittain's poetry and prose, some of it never published before, commemorates the men she loved - fiance, brother and two close friends - who served and died in the First World War. It draws on her experiences as a VAD nurse in London, Malta, and France, and illustrates her growing conviction of the wickedness of all war. Illustrated with many extraordinary photographs from Brittain's own albums, and edited with a new introduction by Mark Bostridge, Because You Died is an elegy to men who lost their lives in a bloody conflict, and a volume of remembrance to mark the ninetieth anniversary of the Armistice.

ISBN: 9781844084135

Contains twenty-three poems by William Wordsworth (1770-1850) and Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834). This title expresses the poets' reflections on mankind's relationship with the forces of the world. It includes the nightmarish vision of "The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere".

Britain has been blessed with many fine poets; Simon Drew isn't one of them. It is tempting to call this a book of doggerel, but maybe that's aiming a little high. This book makes a Co-Op receipt seem intellectual. However, there are many collectors of Drew's work (some of them locked up) who will welcome a collection of all the best verses. This book will be left lying around the best homes with the aim of impressing odd people and passing hyenas.

As the inhabitants of Llareggub lie sleeping, their dreams and fantasies deliciously unfold. There is Captain Cat surrounded by fish that 'nibble him down to his wishbone', Mog Edwards 'a draper mad with love' for shy dressmaker Miss Price, Organ Morgan, listening to the music in Coronation Street with 'spouses ... honking like geese and the babies singing opera', while at the sea-end of town, Mr. and Mrs. Floyd lie in their bed 'side by wrinkled side ... like two old kippers in a box'. Waking up, their dreams turn to bustling activity as a new day begins.