Published in 1929 by Chatto & Windus (UK) and by Covici Friede (USA), Richard Aldington’s first novel

has been called one of the best fictional treatments of the Great War (Copp 2002, 15), and was described by George Orwell as “much the best of the English war books” (1970, 261). The merit of the novel which makes it still worth reading is that it is not a tribute to war, but “evidence of how war reduces one to the barest elementary humanity” (McGreevy 1931, 34). The description of war in the novel is anti-heroic, giving a thorough and solid account of not just the fear and despair, but also the dirt, illness and, above all, boredom and loneliness that soldiers experienced in the trenches, of which Aldington had first-hand experience. The novel has, in fact, an…

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Citation: Bolchi, Elisa. "Death of a Hero". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 October 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5691, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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