Muse of Fire: World War I as Seen Through the Lives of the Soldier Poets

Michael Korda's epic narrative of the First World War tells the story of soldier poets through their intertwined lives, symbolizing the tragic arc and lethal fury of the war. The cast of characters includes Alan Seeger, Isaac Rosenberg, Robert Graves, Siegfried Sassoon, and Owen, whose poetry remains some of the most savage and heartbreaking to emerge from the war. Muse of Fire is a portrait of their lives and a narrative of a civilization destroying itself, with the revival of brutal trench warfare in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Format: Hardback
Length: 400 pages
Publication date: 21 June 2024
Publisher: WW Norton & Co

Michael Korda, the best-selling author of Hero and Alone, presents a unique and captivating narrative of the First World War through the intertwined lives of soldier poets who captured its tragic arc and lethal fury. His epic account begins with Rupert Brooke, the handsome young man in England and one of its most famous poets during the Edwardian Age, and concludes five years later with Wilfred Owen, who was killed in action at the age of twenty-five, just one week before the armistice. With a touch of irony, Owen's mother received the telegram informing her of his death on November 11, coinciding with the church bells ringing to celebrate the end of the war. Korda's dramatic narrative, enriched by personal family anecdotes, brings the soldier poets to life, offering a vivid portrayal of life and death in the trenches and the ultimate sacrifice of an entire generation. Among the notable characters in his story are Alan Seeger, an American poet who died in action as a private in the French Foreign Legion; Isaac Rosenberg, whose parents had fled czarist anti-Semitic persecution and was killed in action at the age of twenty-eight before his poetry and painting were recognized; Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon, whose friendship and rivalry endured through their complex personal lives; and, of course, Owen, whose fame came posthumously and whose poetry remains among the most haunting and poignant to emerge from the war. Korda's portrayal of the First World War poets reveals them as soldiers, heroes, martyrs, and victims, their lives and loves endlessly fascinating. Rupert Brooke's journey to Polynesia in search of a life akin to Gauguin's is a testament to his captivating story.

Weight: 686g
Dimension: 236 x 160 x 36 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781631496882