Out Of The Fire Of Hell - Welsh Experience Of The Great War 1914-1918

'Welshmen are lovers of peace but they are defenders of liberty, ' said David Lloyd George. And whatever the rights and wrongs of the Great War's call to arms, there is no denying the impact of that war on Wales. There is no denying either the impact that Wales itself had upon the war. Out of the Fire of Hell is an anthology that describes and distils Welsh experiences of the First World War. In poetry and prose, these are the testimonies both of those who fought and those who stood and waited on the home front. They are the embattled and emotive confessions of public figures and unsung heroes alike, the harrowing and humorous observations of both officer and priavte - and of their loved ones. Many of the pieces included are translations of the work of some of the major Welsh-language
writers of the early twentieth century, like Hedd Wyn, Cynan and Saunders Lewis. These stand side-by-side with great Welsh names of the English tradition, like Edward Thomas, Wilfred Owen and T.E. Lawrence, whilst there is room also for Englishmen who identified very closely with the Welsh experience, like Ivor Gurney and Robert Graves. The anthology is illustrated by striking black-and-white photographs, visual reminders of who these people were and what they had to endure.