What a beautiful book! You really need the complete memoirs to go hand in hand with young Sherston and follow him blossom from a hapless and intellectually indolent youngster to a man grappling with the contradictions of war.
As you would expect from Sassoon the poet, the writing is beautiful, and accompanies you along the progression from the tranquil picture perfect Suffolk village of Butley, where young Sherston is imprinted by fox hunting loving groom, the main male role model as a youngster; to the horrors of war devastated France.
The first volume,[b:Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man|334776|Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man|Siegfried Sassoon|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347482517s/334776.jpg|1885119] is absolutely crucial to "get" Sherston and his background, and as a byproduct get a precious insight in the qualities that make English country life quintessentially English. With the second volume, [b:Memoirs of an Infantry Officer|250839|Memoirs of an Infantry Officer|Siegfried Sassoon|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348059289s/250839.jpg|1534277] you are catapulted into the war scene, and get in touch with the horrors of the war: not the gory scenes we are now getting used to - Sassoon chisels the ugliness of war in the futility of it, the constant discomfort, drudgery and frustration that bears you down day by day a little more, the battles with no clear plan, the weariness of the mud and the rain and the absence of intellectual stimulation or company, and in the end the rebellion to it all. The final volume, [b:Sherston's Progress|1542063|Sherston's Progress|Siegfried Sassoon|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347679932s/1542063.jpg|1534280] marks the full maturity of Sherston the man, from hospital to the war zone again.
Many things struck me which were possibly not intended to have this effect: the engrained class system (Sherston aid is a servant, officers were supposed to come from the higher classes, and so on), the stereoitypical English reserve, the relationship with alcohol, as well as the lack of any female figure of any relevance with the exception of the Aunt in whose house Sherston grew.
A beautiful book, a compelling read.
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I loved this book! Discovered in a second-hand store this beautifully written tale of an idyllic, country life shattered by the horrors of World War I led me to Sassoon's poetry and an appreciation and love for other World War I poets such as Owen and Brooke. This three-volume compilation is a work of true genius, evoking not only an idyllic period in English history before the war, but the destruction of that world (and millions of lives) in the trenches of France. The author's public protest on the conduct of the war and his refusal to fight are the subject of the later volumes and are unique in the history of warfare and place Sassoon in a class by himself, not only as a brave and decorated soldier, but a principled and courageous conscientious objector. ( )

4429. The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston, by Siegfried Sassoon (read 23 Apr 2008)(Memoirs of a Fox Hunting Man: James Tait Black Memorial fiction prize for 1928) The Brittannica describes this as a "fictionalized autobiography." This single volume contains The Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man, first published in 1928, Memoirs of an Infantry Officer, published 1930, and Sherston's Progress, published in 1936. The first part tells of Sassoon's utterly frivolous time before the war, when his main interest was in fox-hunting and cricket. The next volume tells of his entering the Army and his first times in France, and then of his protest against the war and of his time in the hospital and of being under Dr. Rivers' care and in the third volume he goes back to the Army, and this third volume is really the most absorbing of the three, One cannot but be awestruck by the frequent beauty of the writing, and I feel it is one of the most evocative books I have ever read on England and the First World War. I have wanted to read this for ages and am really glad I finally did. ( )

Cricket pitches, fox hunting, the dying days of Edwardian England through the eyes of the privileged. And then The Great War. One of England's great literary figures brings all this alive. Unlike so many of his contemporaries he survived(if damaged) to record this transition. Brilliantly evocative....the male, early 20th century Jane Austen.

"The most satisfying piece of autobiography to be published in our time. All the equipment of a novelist is Sassoon's. But what novel could equal in fascination this true story? The three books give him a place unique in English letters" --Howard Spring, English Standard