The years covered by this collection of poetry are some of the most turbulent in recent history.

Britain moved from wealth and stability to political turmoil as the First World War changed the world and claimed millions of young lives. The poetry in this volume follows the transition from a rural tradition, embodied by Thomas Hardy and D.H. Lawrence, to a poignant realism expressed by the War Poets, Rupert Brooke, Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon.

Here, too, is the early magical poetry of W.B. Yeats and the depiction of the life of a soldier of the Empire by Kipling; two poets who contrast strongly and yet fit happily into the age in which they wrote. Presenting the rich diversity of theme, style and technique, this anthology amply represents the poetry of the early twentieth-century.