Edward Thomas, professional author and critic, was thirty-nine when he was killed in the Arras offensive on Easter Day, 1917. Six months later his first collection of poems was published and his literary reputation secured. These Selected Letters present a uniquely vivid portrait of Thomas's life, from his time as an undergraduate at Oxford through to his final days at the Front. Chosen from more than 2,000 extant letters from Thomas to his family and literary friends - including Robert Frost, Walter de la Mare, and Eleanor Farjeon - the selection traces his struggle to establish himself as a writer, his long and successful fight against depression, and, amid the strain of a marriage which sometimes brought much agony, the strength of his love for his wife Helen. The letters, which formed a key source for R George Thomas's highly praised biography of a poet, help substantiate the editor's belief that despite Thomas's immense prose output and the late flowering of his verse in 1914-1916, it was nevertheless the name and nature of poetry that was Edward Thomas's dominant lifelong concern.
Reviews
is a welcome addition to other published letters...of a nicely produced book full of meat...these letters, so carefully edited and superbly introduced by Professor Thomas record the struggle that resulted in his ultimate achievement. * Despatches *
...could scarcely be bettered as an enjoyable and informative introduction. * Yorkshire Post *
The book is meant, I think, not so much to illustrate his 1985 biography but rather as a possible first introduction to Edward Thomas. * London Review of Books *
the dominant impression left by the book is one of possession, not deprivation. Its balance is tipped towards discovery, loyalty and integrity. * Times Literary Supplement *



Book Information
ISBN 9780198185628
Author Edward Thomas
Format Hardback
Page Count 244
Imprint Clarendon Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Dimensions(mm) 224mm * 145mm * 19mm