A Passionate Prodigality. Fragments of Autobiography.

Bookseller Notes

Scarce. The author, who graduated from Christ Church, Oxford prior to the War, offers a vividly-written account of his service with the Royal Fusiliers, describing his utter incorporation into the collective experience: 'for a long time I used to think of myself as part of a battalion, and not as an individual', it opens. He provides a detailed portrayal of the vileness of the trench-experience. After hesitant beginnings ('I was very much afraid; and again, afraid of being afraid'), Chapman fought at Arras (where he suffered a mustard-gas attack) and the Somme, being awarded the Military Cross and attaining the rank of major by the time he was demobbed.The publisher proposes that it will stand 'with the half-dozen or so English war books, which will form a permanent literature of the War for future generations' (blurb). Chapman subsequently established himself as a historian and publisher; the rear flap advertises a novel by his wife, Storm Jameson.