Graham Cooke

Poetry and Writing of the First World War Graham Cooke

My grandfather fought in both the Boer and 1st World Wars; he never spoke of his experiences. When he died we discovered a box containing letters, photographs, press cuttings and his medals. Since then I have tried to piece together his war time record. When I tried to teach secondary aged children about the poetry of the 1st World War many found it hard to grasp the enormity of it all, until I bought in my grandfather's memorabilia - suddenly it all clicked. I tried to find a book that would combine the history of the Great War with the poetry and the poets, but couldn't find one. So I set about writing this book. Including all of the Great War poems in their context, the book also features a section on the materials my grandfather left and also some research that I have recently done into his family history.