Alan Bishop Boeken

This poignant work collects letters written from 1913 to 1918 between Vera Brittain and four young men - her fiance Roland Leighton, her younger brother Edward, and their two close friends, Victor Richardson and Geoffrey Thurlow - who were killed in World War I. While this correspondence inspired Testament of Youth, Brittain's classic memoir of her wartime experiences, most of the letters are published here for the first time.

The collection features poems reflecting on diverse themes drawn from the poet's life in South Africa, England, and Canada. Spanning fifty years, Alan Bishop's work delves into personal and cultural experiences, capturing the essence of each location's influence on his writing. As a professor emeritus at McMaster University, his insights blend academic depth with emotional resonance, offering readers a rich exploration of identity and place.