"Commanding . To encounter [Graves] in these pages is to feel something of the relentlessly explosive energy with which he lived the first half of his life. Wilson lands him like a Zeppelin bomb." -- Observer "Jean Moorcroft Wilson has built an unassailable reputation as our leading authority on the poets of the Great War . Combining intelligent and perceptive criticism of his work, with revealing insights into the man, this study of the devastating impact of the conflict on Graves makes for compelling reading. I cannot recommend it too highly" -- Nigel Jones, author of Rupert Brooke: Life, Death & Myth "Diligent and insightful . Jean Moorcroft Wilson teases the truth from Graves's exaggerations, mis-rememberings and downright gibs . She is by turns compassionate and caustic and is clear sighted .

[Her] close reading of the war poems is illuminating." -- The Times "Wilson unveils the poet behind the man struggling to make, not write, poetry [and] clarifies our understanding of what Graves was about" -- Literary Review "Consistently illuminating" -- Andrew Motion, Spectator "A sensitive rendering of the poet's formative years . finely nuanced" -- Kirkus Reviews "A fine attempt to give Graves his due in the context of the Great War" -- Evening Standard "This is an exemplary biography and a terrific entertainment . Wilson brings this difficult, unlovable but strangely impressive man yelpingly to life" -- Sunday Times "Deft and commanding . On a par with her other outstanding biographies" -- BBC History Magazine "25 years after the last biography, a fresh approach . Measured and dispassionate . This is biography at its best" -- Country Life "A sensitive rendering of the poet's formative years . A sympathetic perspective on Graves' eventful life.

" -- Kirkus Reviews "A well-researched, readable biography" -- Library Journal.