Jean Moorcroft Wilson's first volume of biography about the poet and author, Siegfried Sassoon, is a timely and meticulous - as well as very readable - account of Sassoon's youth and war experiences.

Like all good biographies, it is detailed while flowing, and gives a good impression not only of Sassoon the man as well as his environment. Throughout, we are given an impression of the wider world that shaped, or did not shape, the poet.

At the same time, this isn't just the expected narrative; it isn't "Sassoon and the trenches". Certainly that is the point toward which the narrative moves, but it is very careful to give the bredth of Sassoon's experiences attention. While at war, Sassoon was an efficient officer and a bit of a daredevil. He was not always the committed poet. Rather, it was behind the lines, at Liverpool (so abject!), in Ireland (hunter's bliss), in London (the literary lights) that Sassoon put pen to paper and created some of the most memorable poems of the 20th century. Or for any time.

Wilson is a good story teller and a good reader of people. She presents Sassoon to us in a balanced and well evidenced manner. She lets us know what he got up to, but doesn't bore us with turgid detail. And most importantly, perhaps, the biography drifts over into literary criticism, offering interpretations and readings of his works in light of Sassoon's experiences.

I'm waiting for volume II in the post as I write. ( )