

Siegfried Sassoon's war diaries published online - nkurz
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-28581726

======
lurcio
Thank you for posting it on HN.

Its fascinating to see Sassoon's private position. Its an interesting frame to
his public opposition.

I'm aware his branch of the family had no power, yet given his background I
still found some entries shocking if not somewhat conspiratorial in the
fullness of their expression. For instance, entered just before the "Soldiers
Declaration":

"The rulers of England have always relied on the ignorance and patient
credulity of the crowd. If the crowd could see into their cynical hearts it
would lynch the dictators" [Image 8. Journal, 19 June 1917-6 July 1917].

------
bhickey
I took a look at his journal 9 May 1918-2 Feb. 1919. Specifically I'm trying
to find his reaction to Wilfred Owen's death on November 4th. Owen's own
letters were burned after his death by his brother.

November 11th is an interesting read:

[http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-
ADD-09852-00001-00013/64](http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-
ADD-09852-00001-00013/64)

"The war is ended. It is impossible to realize. Oxford had much flag waving
also & signs of demonstration."

Edit: Ah-ha. Sassoon didn't learn of his death until several months later.
I'll try to track down the passage.

------
jl6
I absolutely love seeing extensive handwritten diaries, journals and
notebooks, especially those of little historical importance. I like those more
than the notebooks of the famous and the accomplished. Perhaps the appeal of
the mundane ones is because they might well be that person's greatest lasting
work, however minor. It's not even that I enjoy reading them. More knowing
that they exist, that they could be read, and that the author has lived on in
some small way.

------
brudgers
I recently picked up _Poetry of the First World War: an Anthology_.

I don't read much poetry, but I get why Sassoon and Owen are considered a big
deal. They are often poignant and brilliant and heartbreaking and beautiful.

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0199581444/ref=aw_d_dsc_books?...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0199581444/ref=aw_d_dsc_books?qid=1406948074&sr=1-1)

------
kencausey
The collection:
[http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/sassoon](http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/sassoon)

------
tomjen3
Title should have included who he was - I have no idea who he is/was and I
imagine I am not the only one.

~~~
fernly
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seigfried_sassoon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seigfried_sassoon)

He served with distinction and bravery, then late in the war took a position
of public opposition to it. Post-war as an editor he fostered the careers of a
number of poets and critics, as well as publishing well-received works of his
own.

~~~
junto
His name, oddly for an Englishman fighting the Germans, sounds so German.

> There was no German ancestry in Siegfried's family; his mother named him
> Siegfried because of her love of Wagner's operas.

