Above the Dreamless Dead is an anthology of World War I poems adapted into comics. Well. Miniature graphic novels, really. It is so much better than it sounds.
I'm embarking upon a personal course of study on World War I-- this was my second book in the series, after The War to End All Wars, and I think it was a good choice. The War to End All Wars, by Russell Freedman, is one of those children's photostudies that summarizes the war, and it's a pretty good introduction to what happened, when you keep in mind that it's for children and thus is a little bit sanitized. Only a little, though, which was somewhat surprising.
How little it was sanitized was brought home to me by Above the Dreamless Dead. There's a literary tradition called trench poetry that came out of World War I, which more or less rejected the current view of war as glorious and romantic. Duffy and his contributers selected a number of trench poems, along with a couple of soldier's songs, and illustrated them. Many of the original poets served in the war; a good chunk of them died there. The anthology really brings home how terrible trench warfare was, and how pointless the entire war became.
Both of these books are worth the read, I think, but be warned: Above the Dreamless Dead in particular has a lot of graphic imagery and violence.
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