The first book of the Regeneration Trilogy—a Booker Prize nominee and one of Entertainment Weekly’s 100 All-Time Greatest Novels.
In 1917 Siegfried Sasson, noted poet and decorated war hero, publicly refused to continue serving as a British officer in World War I. His reason: the war was a senseless slaughter. He was officially classified “mentally unsound” and sent to Craiglockhart War Hospital. There a brilliant psychiatrist, Dr. William Rivers, set about restoring Sassoon’s “sanity” and sending him back to the trenches. This novel tells what happened as only a novel can. It is a war saga in which not a shot is fired. It is a story of a battle for a man’s mind in which only the reader can decide who is the victor, who the vanquished, and who the victim.
One of the most amazing feats of fiction of our time, Regeneration has been hailed by critics across the globe. More than one hundred years since World War I, this book is as timely and relevant as ever.
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"I really, really liked these books. The author is a British woman - the first book is about a mental health "institution" set up on an estate in England, to treat World War I soldiers (the War is still going on as the book progresses). The 2nd and 3rd books follow one of the psychiatrists and one of the soldiers a little more in depth. Wonderful writing. Heavy subject matter. Engrossing, though hard to read at times. I learned of this author and these books from a review in "The New Yorker". One of the MANY reasons I just adore The New Yorker, even though I just don't have the time to keep up with it and read other stuff, too. Makes for VERY LARGE piles of books and magazines by my bed that I look at, longingly, every night."
— Molly (4 out of 5 stars)
" Very, very good. Probably the best novel by a living author that I've read in years (so far I've read only the first of the trilogy). Barring War and Peace, the mixture of historical characters with fictional ones is the best I've come across. "
— Bruce, 2/18/2014" This historical fiction trilogy about WWI is rich and engrossing. Readers should be cautioned, it is upsetting, as war always is. It does not romanticise that which should never, ever be romanticised. The story is organized around several "shell shocked" British soldiers during WWI and the effect treating these individual has on their psychiatrists. Having read it as an undergraduate student at Wake Forest University in 1998, I had no idea how eerily accurate it would be for a now-military psychiatrist in 2008. You need not have anything to do with the military or psychiatry to thoroughly enjoy these books. On the other hand, for anyone who treats soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, or veterans, this is a must read. "
— Maria, 2/15/2014" Absolutely brilliant must-read especially for anyone interested in World War One and shell shock. An unsentimental, raw and intimate trilogy featuring historically accurate figures such as war poets, Sigfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, and anthropologist/doctor W.H.R.Rivers. Read it! "
— Ruth, 2/7/2014" The first two books in the trilogy were fantastic: beautifully written, energetic and moving. The final book in the trilogy, however, was slow, boring and melodramatic. While I suppose it could be said that the final volume wrapped everything up, I don't think such a thing was necessary. Especially given the somewhat strange change in style and tempo that the last book represented. There was something desperate in Barker's shift, I think. Regardless, the first two books were stunningly written and truly enjoyable and well worth the read. "
— Don, 1/27/2014" England during WWI is one of my favourite settings and I love how the book uses historical figures and fictional ones to tell the story of how young Englishmen coped, or didn't cope, with life in the trenches. The Ghost Road won the Booker in 1995. "
— Wagga, 1/20/2014" A master (mistress?) of prose. Read anything you can by Pat Barker and put this on the top of your reading list. "
— Amanda, 12/14/2013" I'm a sucker for WW stories but this had to be the ultimate. "
— Rebecca, 8/25/2013" The first part of the trilogy was my favorite, but I loved them all. "
— Allison, 8/5/2013" An extraordinary insight into the experiences of shell-shock victims in the second world war, and the insensitivities, pressures and moral blackmail imposed on them. "
— Mark, 2/17/2013" Oh, I loved these books! England during WWI is one of my favourite settings and I love how the book uses historical figures and fictional ones to tell the story of how young Englishmen coped, or didn't cope, with life in the trenches. "
— Amy, 10/28/2012" Anyone looking to learn about WWI should read this book. It's eerie how the examination of PTSD is still relevant today. "
— Maggie, 7/16/2012" I think these are amongst my favorite books of all time absolutely beautiful and devastating. I must read them again. "
— Kate, 6/24/2012" This is one of the best sets of books I've ever read. It got me started on my fascination with World War I in literature. I definite must read. Pat Barker is a great author. "
— Melissa, 11/17/2011" I am fascinated by the first world war and this is a masterful evocation of the experience of war and its aftermath. "
— Clare, 7/31/2011" I cannot think of any literary work in English that comes close to what Pat Barker achieved in this work of transcendental beauty and insight on the subject of the Great War. "
— Sylla, 6/1/2011" Can't remember the last time a book left me fealing so emotionally drained a the end. "
— Dabnorfish, 4/20/2011" A terrifying novel about the aftermath of trauma and the contradictions in the soldiers' psyche, where the war is both terrible and never to be repeated and at the same time experiences derived from it are given enormous value. "
— Tudor, 3/31/2011" this is the third in the regeneration trilogy. i enjoyed every one of them. barker's depiction of war, its after effects, male homosexual sex: all of it is so spot on (though i obviously don't have the experience to compare it to). i would strongly recommend this trilogy. "
— Kimi, 3/22/2011" I read this book about 10 years ago. I remember it being very moving. I really enjoyed the class discussions and writing a paper about it. "
— Monika, 3/18/2011" The third in a series following the lives of the famous Word War One poets like Owen and Sassoon. <br/> <br/>The narrator begins in a mental institution with shell shock and is going to the front. <br/> <br/>A few illicit scenes by “ill” men add a bit of interest. "
— John, 3/10/2011" Wonderful series of books on ww1 and trench warfare. Takes place in a psychiatric facility in Scotland were officers go when they have battle fatigue. Yrue characters are used including several famous poets of the war. "
— Dsinglet, 1/10/2011" This was a Booker Prize winner. It was good (obviously) but not highly recommend (by me). "
— Sandy, 1/8/2011" all a bit nothing really the trilogy started so well and ended with such nothing "
— Sandyboy, 12/10/2010" This book is great but I think it is necessary to read the first two before reading this one. "
— Kim, 10/26/2010" Way above me, the sort of book you would be made to study at college or university. I imagine it would appeal to the intelligenesia. "
— Stan, 9/29/2010Pat Barker is an English novelist who has won the Guardian Fiction Prize and the Booker Prize. In 2000 she was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Simon Russell Beale is a British actor, author, and music historian. A multiaward-winning actor of stage and television, he was described in the London Independent as “the greatest stage actor of his generation.” He has won eight AudioFile Earphones Awards for his narrations.