This is collection of entries from West's diaries, some letters and some of his poems. It is a reprint of the 2007 edition with an introduction from Nigel Jones. This was, in turn, a new edition of the original, which came out in 1919 with an introduction by West's friend, the pacifist philosopher Cyril Joad. West had been killed in 1917 and had - as this book demonstrates - come to be filled with a horror of the war he had found himself involved in. Joad's introduction positions West as a pacifist martyr, but that doesn't quite fit West properly. Joad had his reasons.

These diary entries makes for a fascinating read and lay out how West's thinking changed to such a degree that he almost deserted. His story and that of Siegfried Sassoon (who is the better known of the two) dovetail to a certain degree but West could not quite bring himself to mail the letter he had written and so went back to war.

The collection's entries are of varying lengths. Some are bite sized comments on events of the day, others longer more considered meditations of war, and God, and death. Sometimes his tone reminds me of Peter Carter, the pilot played by David Niven in a Matter of Life and Death. I almost could here him saying: <b>"I love you, June. You're life and I'm leaving you." </b> Compare that to West's <b>"What has come to me recently is the supreme value of human love.</b>

West doesn't want to keep fighting because he has come to realise that the fighting is about nothing of value: <b>"Duty to country and King and civilisation! Nonsense! For none of these things is a man forced to leave his humanity on one side and make a passionate destroying beast of himself. I am a man before I am anything else, and it is all that is human in me that revolts." </b>

But West's thoughts range over many subjects as they pertain to war. He can be pretty scathing about patriotism, religion, the army, and war. His most savage language though can be found in his poems, particularly <i> God! How I Hate You, You Young Cheerful Men!"</i>, which begins:

<b>GOD! How I hate you, you young cheerful men,
Whose pious poetry blossoms on your graves...</b>

It might be one of the most scathing bits of writing from any poet from World War One. Certainly the most direct.

Perhaps though his most affecting poem is 'The Night Patrol' which provides a vivid picture of what patrolling No Man's Land might really mean.

It is a short book, but a powerful one. And because it isn't as well-known perhaps as other books from the time it might be a good one for you to pick up if you're interested in World War One. Here we get to meet an 'Angry Young Man' decades before 'Look Back in Anger.'

Arthur Graeme West (September, 1891 – 3 April 1917) was a British writer, WWI soldier and war poet.West was born in Eaton, Norfolk, educated at Highgate School, then Blundell's School and Balliol College, Oxford.West enlisted as a Private with the Public Schools Battalion in January 1915. He joined from a feeling of duty and patriotism, but the war had a profound effect on him. An individualist who hated routine and distrusted discipline, he developed an intense abhorrence to army life and began to question the very core of his beliefs – in religion, patriotism and the reason for war. This growing disillusionment found expression in two particularly powerful war poems he wrote during this time: "God, How I Hate You" and "Night Patrol". In his diary he describes reading Bertrand Russell's writings on pacifism, which made a great impression on him. In August 1916 he became a second lieutenant in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. Shortly after, he wrote to his new battalion threatening to desert the army - but he could not bring himself to post the letter. Less than a year later, on 3 April 1917, he was shot dead by a sniper's bullet near Bapaume.
West is principally known for one book, The Diary of a Dead Officer (1919), which presents a scathing picture of army life and a vivid account of daily life in the trenches. The book was published posthumously and edited by C. E. M. Joad, an Oxford colleague of West's and an active pacifist (and contemporary of West's at Blundell's). It was reissued in 1991 by the Imperial War Museum and published again by Greenhill Books in 2007 with an introduction by Nigel Jones.

Interesting perspective on a WW I officer who did not make it home. I was deeply interested the whole time. It would be definitely worth looking into finding more like this .

This is a fascinating book which is also timeless. I suspect the thoughts and actions of the diarist remain common to the modern experience of warfare in many ways. His struggles to come to terms with his role as a soldier are all the more tragic when it is revealed that he died before his position could be put forward fully. Such a sad book, but also inspiring to read of the strength of character under what must have been incredible societal pressure at the time.