The Oxford Handbook of British and Irish War Poetry (Oxford Handbooks) - Hardcover

...Kendall has assembled a wide range of fresh and important critical persepctives of a remarkably high quality. (Tom Walker The Cambridge Quarterly)

Kendall has assembled a wide range of fresh and important critical perspectives of a remarkably high quality. (Tom Walker, Cambridge Quarterly)

rich and wide ranging... a thorough, inclusive and invaluable guide to the field, combining accessible and informative overviews with original and insightful research. (Jo Gill, Modern Language Review)

If a definitive edition of Great War poetry criticism were possible, then this would be it... a vast scholarly effort...a large and rich achievement, with an infectious quality of 'browsability'... it addresses an academic need ambitiously and comprehensively. (James Bridges, Ivor Gurney Society Journal)

...the real quality of most of the essays. Again and again they are illuminating, thoughtful, and challenging. The array of contributors that Kendall has assembled is stellar, and the result a fine collection, one that will reward turning to again and again. (Janis P. Stout, Review of English Studies)

...for the non-specialist, this Handbook acts as a master-class in the reading and understanding of the works considered, whether familiar or not. For the specialists, it promises a never-ending source for debate... For once I have to agree with the publisher's claim that this Handbook 'is an essential resource for both scholars of particular poets and forthose interested in wider debates about modern poetry.' I should add that it provides much of value to the non-academic also. (David Page, Kipling Journal)

Thirty-seven chapters, written by leading literary critics from across the world, describe the latest thinking about twentieth-century war poetry. The book maps both the uniqueness of each war and the continuities between poets of different wars, while the interconnections between the literatures of war and peacetime, and between combatant and civilian poets, are fully considered. The focus is on Britain and Ireland, but links are drawn with the poetry of the United States and continental Europe.

The Oxford Handbook feeds a growing interest in war poetry and offers, in toto, a definitive survey of the terrain. It is intended for a broad audience, made up of specialists and also graduates and undergraduates, and is an essential resource for both scholars of particular poets and for those interested in wider debates about modern poetry. This scholarly and readable assessment of the field will provide an important point of reference for decades to come.