New Releases by Robert Graves

The poet’s “account of trench life . . . still grips the reader,” making his WWI memoir “a classic of English autobiography, and a subversive tour de force” (The Guardian). Goodbye to All That is English poet and soldier Robert Graves’s “bitter leave-taking” of England after his experiences during World War I. A testimony to the shifts in society following the war, the book offers an unsentimental and often satiric account of life as a British Army officer facing the intensity of battle, as well as the personal history that led to his becoming a poet. Finding refuge in Majorca, Graves wrote Goodbye to All That in eleven weeks. His accounts of trench warfare and his descriptions of war atrocities incited controversy, making the book a literary sensation and funding Graves’s vow to “never make England my home again.” Consisting of Graves’s memorable encounters with fellow writers and poets such as Siegfried Sassoon and Thomas Hardy, and the changing societal views on married life, Goodbye to All That, is a classic war memoir and a candid portrait of artistic life.

In "The Feather Bed," Robert Graves intricately weaves a tale steeped in the nuances of human emotion, vulnerability, and existential reflection. With a lyrical prose style that deftly balances modernist sensibilities with mythic undercurrents, Graves crafts a narrative that explores the intimate relations between lovers amidst the backdrop of post-war disillusionment. The text''s rich symbolism and unconventional structure invite readers to unravel layers of meaning, presenting a poignant commentary on the fragility of human connections and the quest for identity in a rapidly changing world. Graves, an accomplished poet and novelist, draws upon his own experiences during World War I, which deeply informed his views on love and loss. His rich background in classical literature and mythological studies further enriches the thematic depth of "The Feather Bed." Graves''s personal struggles and philosophical inquiries resonate throughout the novel, reflecting his belief in the essential human experience as a tapestry of desire, fear, and revelation. For readers seeking a profound exploration of love''Äôs complexities and the human condition, "The Feather Bed" offers an illuminating dive into Graves''s literary genius. Embrace this evocative work to experience not just a story, but an inquiry into life itself, artfully rendered through the eyes of one of the 20th century''Äôs most significant literary figures.

Translated from the Latin by the poet and author of I, Claudius, this ancient Roman novel follows the many adventures of a man who transforms into an ass. Driven by his all-consuming curiosity, a young man of good parentage named Lucius Apuleius takes a trip to Thessaly. Along the way, amidst a series of bizarre adventures, he inadvertently offends a priestess of the White Goddess, who promptly turns him into an ass. How Lucius responds to his new misfortune, and ultimately finds a way to become human again, makes for a funny and fascinating tale. The Metamorphosis of Apuleius, referred to by St. Augustine as The Golden Ass, is the oldest novel written in Latin to survive in its entirety. Originally written by Lucius of Patrae, this translation by Robert Graves highlights the ribald humor and vivid sense of adventure present in the original. Providing a rare window into the daily lives of regular people in ancient Greece, Robert Graves''s translation of this classic tale is at once hilarious, informative, and captivating.

In this sequel to I, Claudius, the story of the Roman Emperor—on which the award-winning BBC TV series was based—continues . . . In I, Claudius, Robert Graves began the story of the limping, stammering young man who is suddenly thrust onto the throne after the death of Caligula. In Claudius the God, Graves continues the story, detailing Claudius''s thirteen-year reign and his ultimate downfall. Painting the vivid, tumultuous, and decadent society of ancient Rome with spectacular detail, Graves provides a tale that is instructive, compelling, and difficult to put down for both casual readers and students of Roman history.

An accessible anthology of the greatest ancient Greek myths and legends for readers of all ages by the celebrated classicist and historical novelist. According to the myths, gods and goddesses of ancient Greece lived on Mount Olympus and ruled the world of mortals. Famous heroes shaped the course of history, beautiful women drew the gazes of gods and men alike, and the gods were both fickle in their favors and breathtakingly generous to those they smiled upon. From Midas''s tragic gift to the exploits of Hercules and the curse of Pandora, Robert Graves brings the legends of ancient Greece to life in a way that''s sure to appeal to everyone; from children to adults, and from casual readers to serious scholars. "Directly told, with no attempt to oversimplify them, a good deal of the symbolism and the association with the pattern of ancient Greece survives." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review).

Swashbuckling historical fiction from the author of I, Claudius. "A cleverly balanced mixture of spice, fact, humor and adventure on and off the high seas" ( Kirkus Reviews). Set in the Age of Exploration, The Islands of Unwisdom tells the story of the ill-fated Don Álvaro de Mendaña y Neyra, a Spanish explorer set on finding the Solomon Islands, the mythical source of King Solomon''s vast wealth. Driven by greed, ambition, and lust, Don Alvaro and his wife, the beautiful and dangerous Ysabel, lead a crew of adventurers beyond the horizon in search of the wealth of their wildest dreams. However, that''s not exactly what they find. In the hands of master historical novelist, classicist, and poet Robert Graves, this tale offers a fascinating look at a brutal and bloody era, and insights into the reasons for Spain''s failure to ultimately dominate world exploration during this time.

The real story of T. E. Lawrence''s life as told by the author of I, Claudius. "A combination of history, biography, and . . . an amazingly human tale" ( Boston Evening Transcript). Immortalized in the film Lawrence of Arabia, the real T. E. Lawrence was a leader, a war strategist, and a scholar, and is here immortalized in an intimate biography written by his close friend, the award-winning British novelist, poet and classicist Robert Graves. As a student at Oxford, T. E. Lawrence was fascinated with Middle Eastern history and culture, and underwent a four-month visit to Syria to study the fortifications built by the crusaders. Later, he returned to the region, this time as an archaeologist working with the British Army''s Intelligence unit in Egypt during World War I. From there, in 1916, he joined Arab rebels fighting against Turkish domination. His brilliance as a desert war tactician earned him the respect of the Turkish fighters and worldwide renown. "Interesting and informative." — New York Herald Tribune "[Mr. Graves] has done his job admirably and without any too obvious excesses of hero worship." — New Statesman "[Readers] will consult Mr. Graves for information about this man." — The New Republic

First published in 1938, Count Belisarius is one of Robert Graves''s most consistently popular novels. A historical romance of the sixth century AD, this tells the story of Belisarius, the last of the great generals of the Roman Empire, who reconquered Africa and Italy for the emperor in Constantinople, only to be rewarded with suspicion and humiliation. Lawrence and the Arabs also tells of a military hero, but one whom Graves knew personally and who was still living when this first authorized biography was published in 1927. Both as an attempt to tell the story of the Arab Revolt and Lawrence''s place in it, and as an installment in the growth of the legend of Lawrence of Arabia, it is an important historical and literary document. Read together, these books show Graves exploring the nature of heroism in a world grown profoundly suspicious of heroes.

In these true stories, the acclaimed writer Robert Graves explores the worlds of two men intent on success. Wife to Mr. Milton is an exploration into the marriage of a man the author considered one of the heinous monsters in the English poetic pantheon--John Milton--and how his wife was ill-used by him. Milton''s first wife was 16 when they married, and Milton was after her dowry. When it did not follow he proved domineering and dishonest, unresponsive to her sensuousness and her down-to-earth wit. It was a spiritual misalliance, too: her Catholicism sorted ill with his beliefs. The dramatic political and military events of the English civil war touched her life at every point, including the execution of Charles I. The Isles of Unwisdom visits a different, very Catholic world, that of the expeditions of the Spanish explorers and discoverers, near contemporaries of Milton but not emancipated by the Reformation, who come unstuck in the New World. Reconstructed is the ill-fated voyage of Alvaro de Mendana y Neya to find the Solomon Islands, popularly believed to constitute the fabled Land of Ophir, where King Solomon amassed his legendary wealth.

"The Odyssey has been described as a ''women''s'' epic, full of female characters and different in kind and colour from the Iliad with its tight focus and its largely male world. Graves''s Nausicaa is a brilliant story-teller. She is a princess of mixed ancestry, combining in herself the various cultures that inform the language and folklore of the epic. She lives in a Greek-Trojan settlement in Sicily some time after the Trojan War. Graves makes it possible for us to believe that she tells her own, true story, buried within Homer''s epic. There is adventure and intrigue; the book stands near the beginning of a tradition that includes Leonardo Sciascia''s The Council of Egypt and Umberto Eco''s The Name of the Rose. Nausicaa is smart and resilient. She solves the mystery of her brother''s disappearance, then organises a counterplot, recalling Odysseus''s bloody, triumphal return to Ithaca."--BOOK JACKET.

This is a collection of Robert Graves'' essays, written between 1922 and 1972, on areas of culture which engaged him. They are organized around the thematic categories of literature, history and religion. The collection chronicles Graves'' intellectual development by presenting the essays chronologically to show how ideas begin and evolve over half a century. At the same time, the essays demonstrate his eclectic knowledge over a vast range of topics and confirm not only his insights, but also his humour and famous leaps of logic.

When, through the efforts of an unscrupulous war profiteer, his father is threatened with dismissal from his job as keeper of an ancient castle, a young boy helps thwart the conspiracy and discovers an unexpected treasure.

The emperor Claudius tells of his life during the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, and Caligula and the events that led to his rise to power in a classic novel reconstructing ancient Rome

A collation of the two novels originally published during the American war of Independence. The work is an account of the struggle for independence, and of the horrors of war,

Retells the Greek myth of the adventures of Jason, Hercules, Orpheus, and the other Argonauts on their quest for the Golden Fleece

In this autobiography, first published in 1929, poet Robert Graves traces the monumental and universal loss of innocence that occurred as a result of the First World War. Written after the war and as he was leaving his birthplace, he thought, forever, Good-Bye to All That bids farewell not only to England and his English family and friends, but also to a way of life. Tracing his upbringing from his solidly middle-class Victorian childhood through his entry into the war at age twenty-one as a patriotic captain in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, this dramatic, poignant, often wry autobiography goes on to depict the horrors and disillusionment of the Great War, from life in the trenches and the loss of dear friends, to the stupidity of government bureaucracy and the absurdity of English class stratification. Paul Fussell has hailed it as "the best memoir of the First World War" and has written the introduction to this new edition that marks the eightieth anniversary of the end of the war. An enormous success when it was first issued, it continues to find new readers in the thousands each year and has earned its designation as a true classic.

A collection of essays by the author of "The White Goddess," linked together by some common assumptions regarding the nature of poetry. The title of the book, according to the writer, "is shorthand for saying that the popular view of what poetry is, or ought to be, has for centuries been based on sentimental misapprehensions."

"The White Goddess" is perhaps the finest of Robert Graves''s works on the psychological and mythological sources of poetry. In this tapestry of poetic and religious scholarship, Graves explores the stories behind the earliest of European deities-- the White Goddess of Birth, Love, and Death-- who was worshipped under countless titles. He also uncovers the obscure and mysterious power of "pure poetry" and its peculiar and mythic language.