Some Desperate Glory: The First World War the Poets Knew

Name: Some Desperate Glory: The First World War the Poets Knew
Price: 12.99 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.3 (28 reviews)
Author: Max Egremont

by Max Egremont

Historical Fiction Biography Memoir

4.3 (28)

355 pages~5.9 hr readPublished by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

$12.99At peak price

Last checked: Feb 21, 2026

Hidden GemHighly rated but flying under the radar. Fewer readers have found this one yet.

Price history: $2.99 – $13.29

While not the biggest discount we've seen for this book, it's still a great deal and we recommend grabbing it before price returns to its normal range.

Price range: $2.99 – $13.29

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Perfect for you if...

You're drawn to WWI history but find straight military narratives incomplete without the human voice and emotion.
You love poetry but want it anchored in real lives and stakes, not studied in a classroom vacuum.
You want to understand how artists process catastrophe: what they saw, how they made meaning of it, what it cost them.

Maybe not for you if...

You prefer narrative-driven biographies that follow one person's arc rather than weaving multiple lives together.
You find academic-style history writing impenetrable or tedious, even when the subject matters to you.
You're looking for an uplifting read; this book is unflinching about loss, trauma, and the futility these poets witnessed.

About this book

Some Desperate Glory examines World War I through the lives and poetry of writers who experienced the conflict. Many of these poets were killed in the war, and their work captures the atmosphere and landscape of battle with vivid intensity. Their verses reveal both the war's tragedy and the hopes and disappointments of their generation. Max Egremont explores the lives and work of seven major war poets: Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Ivor Gurney, Robert Graves, Edward Thomas, Rupert Brooke, and Robert Nichols. All served in the war, and their poetry represents an act of creativity amid unprecedented destruction. The book combines biography with a chronological anthology of the poets' works, presenting the war's story through both the writers' lives and their art. By uniting poetry and history—often studied separately—the volume offers readers both individual soldiers' experiences and a broader view of the war's impact on an entire nation.

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Price History

Kindle price over time. Green zones = periods when the book was free.

$2.99 – $13.29

Price has dropped 2 times over the last 6 years. Goes on sale roughly every 41 days.

Sales Rank

Amazon sales rank: lower number = better selling book. #1 is the bestseller.

Currently around #139K in the Kindle store — a niche title. Climbing the charts — 38% improvement recently.

Rating & Reviews

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Currently 4.3★ from 28 reviews

Review activity has been quiet recently. Rating has remained stable at 4.3 over the tracking period.

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Actual Predicted

Based on past patterns, a price drop could happen soon. It typically goes on sale every 41 days and the last drop was 117 days ago. Typical discount: 78% off.

Prices shown in USD from Amazon US. We continuously pull new data to improve tracking. If dates look old, it usually means there has been no significant change since the last data point.