The Patriot's Progress (1930, first edition)

Henry Williamson's Great War novel "being the vicissitudes of Pte. John Bullock", with woodcuts by William Kermode

Author

Publisher

Printing Details

First edition, first impression. Hardback in dustwrapper. 23 × 15cm, 194pp [2]

A starkly powerful novel of one man's experiences in the First World War, The Patriot's Progress captures the grim experiences of an ordinary man caught up in a conflict over which he has no control. John Bullock is a common soldier, fighting out of blind patriotism for a cause he does not understand, living through the bewilderment of his brutal initiation into army life, and finally facing the terrors of trench warfare on the battlefields of France.

The story made all the more powerful by the series of woodcuts by William Kermode that run through the book. Both Williamson and Kermode served on the Western front in the Great War.

Condition

The book is in good condition, with some light tanning to the pages but remaining in strong readable condition. The dustwrapper has an unsightly scar to the front panel and is a bit grubby. It has been price-clipped but is now within a protective sleeve.