A review by Michiel IJsseldijk

The Great War: endless bitterness, rivalry and struggling. Armies situated in muddy trenches. Trenches full of dead bodies and rats. Poison gas attacks. Soldiers and civilians exposed to extreme physical conditions. Millions of casualties and thousands of destroyed houses.

The First World War seems to be the most emotional and useless war ever fought.

It seems hard to imagine that before the war, lots of soldiers and civilians on both sides, supported the war. The war would mean the end of the gap between the rich and poor in England. Moreover, England was characterized by militarism and patriotism. Rupert Brooke was very patriotic and he loved the fact that the war broke out. He was a young man that enjoyed the rise of his growing reputation as a poet. He was fearless, ambitious and successful. His poems contained lots...