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Wilfred Owen

dominic hibberd

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The definitive biography of the war poet - 'Dominic Hibberd has probably done more more than any other individual to illuminate Owen's life and work. His new Life is a triumph ... it is difficult to believe it will ever be superseded' Mark Bostridge, The Independent on Sunday

When Wilfred Owen died in 1918 aged 25, only five of his poems had been published. Yet he became one of the most popular poets of the 20th century. For decades his public image was controlled by family and friends, especially his brother Harold who was terrified anyone might think Wilfred was gay. In recent years much new material has become available. This book, based on over thirty years of wide-ranging research, brings new information to almost every part of Owen's life. Owen emerges as a complex, fascinating and often endearing character with an intense delight in being alive.

608 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1975
Places
united kingdom, 

This edition

Format
608 pages, Paperback
Published
November 4, 2003 by Phoenix
ISBN
9780753817094
ASIN
0753817098
Language
English
Characters More characters
  • Wilfred Owen

    Wilfred Owen

    Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC (18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918) was an English poet and soldier, one of the leading poets of the First World War. His shocking, realistic war poetry on the horrors of trenches and gas warfare was heavily influenced by his f...

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About the author

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dominic hibberd

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The son of a director of Coutts bank, John William Dominic Hibberd was born in Guildford on November 3 1941. From Rugby (where he was bullied) he won an exhibition to King's College, Cambridge, and after graduating took a PhD at Exeter University.

He became the world's leading authority on the life and work of Wilfred Owen. In 1973 he became the fourth editor of Owen's war poems, following Siegfried Sassoon, Edmund Blunden and Cecil Day-Lewis.

He taught English at Manchester Grammar School and Keele and Exeter universities, as well as universities in America and China.

After retiring from teaching in the 1980s he became a full-time writer about the First World War poets. In his first book, Owen the Poet, he showed that much of the language and imagery of Owen's most famous poems was in place long before Owen experienced the realities of the trenches. In Wilfred Owen: The Last Year (1992) he explored the importance of Owen's time in hospital .

Other books include Diary of a Dead Officer, a study of the poet Arthur Graeme West, and Harold Monro: Poet of the New Age (2001), an absorbing biography of the poet, idealist, campaigner, alcoholic and homosexual who started Poetry Review and the Poetry Bookshop which, for more than 20 years, was, as Hibberd put it, “the most famous centre for poets in the English-speaking world”. In 2007 he edited (with John Onions) The Winter of the World: Poems of the First World War.

A quiet, courteous man and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Hibberd lived in Oxfordshire with his civil partner, Tom Coulthard, who survives him.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 19 votes)
5 stars
7(37%)
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6(32%)
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19 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
toitoist
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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I think this might be the best biography I've ever read. It's not just informative it's also hugely readable, it draws you in and engages both intellect and emotions. Hibberd's command of the facts of Owen's life, the content of his poetry, the progress of the war, and the society of the time is deeply impressive. I've read that this was the culmination of 30 years of research and I could well believe it. It's never presented as dry research though. While not allowing emotion and speculation to carry him away, Hibberd has a gift for writing in a way that helps you understand and identify with the poet. It feels like a much less ‘idealised’ version of Owen than has been presented in the past and it makes him feel all the more human and engaging.
I can’t recommend this highly enough, if you’re interested in Owen or WWI this book will not disappoint. Even you don’t start out interested though I imagine this book could very quickly drag anyone in.
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Kananipa
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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Exhaustive biography of the poet which gives good coverage of his pre-war work. Accessible style. Nice illustrations and maps.
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Misodream
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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6/5 stars. I am left both immensely appreciative yet deeply upset and saddened after finishing this book. Dominic Hibberd has truly outdone himself with his work and devotion to Wilfred Owen in all stages of Owen’s life. Reflection on Owen’s life in detail is where I find myself torn. Hibberd has shown us all the important and even private, intimate details of Owen’s life, presenting him as a regular man, but also as a friend who’s company we have come to enjoy and love greatly. However, at least for me, this book is written so well about the events of his life that it almost doesn’t prepare you for his death; how useless it truly was, as the battle that was his last was also the last of the war, literally days away from Armistice. It is truly a pity that his poetry started taking a shape of its own in the last year and a half of his life, remaining virtually unknown. While it echoed people who he had long admired, both dead and living in his time, it had truly started to reflect his own vision, what stories he wanted to tell. This book has become one of my favorite books ever, and I am so thankful that I’ve had the opportunity to read it. I look forward to reading Hibberd’s other books on Owen. This book has only fueled my Wilfred Owen obsession even more. After reading this, I feel more sure of myself to tackle my thesis, and hopefully read and analyze his poems in the manner he intended. If not already there before, I now only have the utmost and profound respect for Wilfred Owen, the man, the soldier, the poet.
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YoshJW
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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More than just a biography. The details of Owens life are presented in a very readable way with an astonishing amount of background. The 'under fire' actions are vivid in their description. 4 stars only because I prefer Sassoon!
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timidphossu
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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Read this on a Battlefields tour to the Western Front. Learnt so much about Owen and it helped me piece together the poems with the locations and battles that inspired them. As a huge Owen fan, this was absolutely outstanding.
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sundolphin
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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Definitely the best biography I have ever read. I took it with me on a trip to France, and reading the corresponding pages right after visiting the places that Owen had been made it an even more emotional experience than it would have been in any case.
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momowtfff
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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I happened upon this book in a public library and could not help but pick it up, having long admired Owen's WW 1 poems. Little did I know how much there was to know about his complicated biography. I knew nothing about his relationship with his mother and siblings, nothing about his self-styled literary education, and nothing about his life prior to enlisting. It's a great book, well researched and extremely careful in its conclusions. A very good reappraisal of a poet who if not already great during his war period certainly would have been if allowed by fate to live. If nothing else, Hibberd makes that clear. Owen was so close to surviving the war it's heartbreaking.
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