'A Student in Arms': Donald Hankey and Edwardian Society at War

by Ross Davies, John Bourne

Overview

In this, the first scholarly biography of Donald Hankey - the 'Student in Arms' of the first world war - Ross Davies recovers his life, from his birth into a banking and slave-owning dynasty in 1884 to his death at the Somme in 1916. Hankey's story marks a significant contribution to our understanding both of the 'pre-Somme' mediation of the experience of war for the British and American publics, and to our wider understanding of Edwardian society at war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781409474333
Publisher:	Ashgate Publishing Ltd
Publication date:	01/28/2014
Series:	Ashgate Studies in First World War History
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Ross Davies’s previous books include two studies of soldier-poets, Drummond Allison: Come, Let Us Pity Death (2008) and F.W. Harvey: Poet of Remembrance (2010), as well as Vauxhall: A Little History (2009). In preparation: a study of First World War poetry and a biography of the author, film and theatre star and SOE agent Stephen Haggard. Dr Davies has written for The Times, The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, as well as the Evening Standard and the Financial Times.

Table of Contents

Contents: Introduction; Et in Arcadia ego; ’Blasphemy and filth’; ’Out by the same door as I went in’; Across the bridges; The Lord of All Good Life; ’If I ever get my pen going again’; A student in arms'; Hankey’s Somme; After the battle; Cultural sieves and winnowing flails; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

'... breaks new ground as a literary biography of its subject, presenting and analysing a wealth of previously unknown material focussing on Hankey as a writer ... this is an excellent piece of scholarly writing, contributing significantly to our understanding of A Student in Arms. While Donald Hankey continues to defy simplistic labelling, Ross Davies' work has made him much less of an enigma.' Reviews in History ’From the first chapter, the richness and uniqueness of the source material for this biography of a ’lost’ soldier-writer is striking. Through a large collection of letters to and from Hankey, diaries, drafts of articles and press cuttings, assembled by the author from different family members, Davies depicts an exceptionally rich and in-depth portrait of David Hankey.’ Histoire Sociale ’This biography is overdue. It is immensely valuable to all those interested in grasping the realities of the Great War, as it was lived and fought by a deeply thinking, totally unorthodox man, who had wanted to be a priest but could not stand the Church of England, disliked military bureaucracy, and who believed in comradeship across all ranks as a matter of intense conviction... This is a superb book, sharply written and dedicated in its purpose.’ History

From the Publisher