The Souls of the Dead are Taking all the Best Seats

About the Book: 

Good war poetry breaks silence, restoring voice to those who have experienced horrors that lie beyond the language of everyday discourse. From the clash of steel to the rumble of tanks, the sights and sounds of war have inspired poets of every nation since conflict was invented.

In this timely new anthology, respected poet and historian Angus Calder and anti-war activist Beth Junor have drawn together a representation of war poetrt from nations and cultures across the globe. Shared experience and powerful imagery combine to give this collection of poems an immediacy and poignancy that illustrate both the horror and the humanity that are distilled by the events that humankind calls war.

Reviews: 

I enjoyed reading Mahmoud Darwish and other poets in this fine collection of passion and commitment, I hope many people will read it. NAWAL EL SAADAWI

I highly recommend this collection of poems: they are as vivid as they are thought-provoking. COLONEL CLIVE FAIRWEATHER, CBE, SCOTTISH APPEAL DIRECTOR, COMBATSTRESS

About the Author:

ANGUS CALDER has been best known as a social and cultural historian. The People’s War: Britain, 1939-45 has been almost continuously in print since it appeared in 1969. Other substantial historical books followed, and two collections of essays about Scotland, past and present. But he has also published verse all his life, won a Gregory Award in 1967, and was convenor of the Committee which helped Tessa Ransford realise her vision of a Scottish Poetry Library in 1984. Since he took early retirement from the Open University in Scotland in 1993, he has written poetry more prolifically, and published widely.

His three previous collections are Waking in Waikato (1997), Colours of Grief (2002) and Dipa’s Bowl (2004). Receipt of a Scottish Arts Council Writers Bursary in 2002 gave him gave him breathing space to organise his uncollected verse.

Poet and activist BETH JUNOR has been writing poetry, essays and pamphlets since she was 19. During the Cold War she was jailed seven times for non-violent protests against the military. She is a health professional and her work in paediatric language and communication disorder is widely respected.