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Tales of War: Expanded Edition

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Lord Dunsany is best known for having written some of the earliest fantasy, and the first fantastical works of genuine lyricism. But what is not widely-known about him is that he also fought in World War I, of which his experiences are recorded in "Tales of War."

"Prayer of the Men of Daleswood" is unusual for Dunsany, in that it is entirely composed of a monologue about a village called Daleswood. "Road" is a touching story about the "road" to peace that the men killed in the war had made. "Imperial Monument" reflects on the lasting effects of the war on France, Germany, and others. "Walk to the Trenches" is a meditative examination of the landscape around the trenches. "Walk in Picardy" offers a look into the trek of a soldier into the trenches. "What Happened on the Night of the Twenty-Seventh" is a story about Dick Cheeser, a pleasantly ordinary English boy who has his first night as a sentry. "Standing To" is about the dawn on the battlefield. "Splendid Traveller" hints at fantasy, the story of a British airman. "England" is a solid little dialogue-driven tale where a Private and a Sargeant have a talk about sausages, gardens, and other things in England. "Shells" is Dunsany's description of German guns and shells; there is something almost alarmingly clinical about this essay, until the final paragraph. "Two Degrees of Envy" is a unique story, about two unfortunate men -- one English, one German -- who are envied by their former comrades. "Master of No Man's Land" is a mildly humorous story about a rutabaga.

"Weeds and Wire" is a rather sad story about English soldiers wandering through the ruins of a French village. "Spring in England and Flanders" reflects on two different springs in two different countries -- one intact, one a wasteland. "Nightmare Countries" is a reflection on the hideous condition of WWI France. "Spring and the Kaiser" sadly reflects on how the German leaders weren't happy with simple, peaceful contentment. "Two Songs" is about mirrored events in both England and France. "Punishment" is a haunting, Dickensian story about a phantom who takes the Kaiser on a tour of the homes that he has destroyed. "English Spirit" is about Cane, a man who has been to war and doesn't want to go again. "An Investigation Into the Causes and Origin of the War" is about the "imperial barber... that eccentric man whose name so few remember." "Lost" is about the last chance of Hitler for redemption. "Last Mirage" is a poetic look at how France is a "desert" for the Nazis. "Famous Man" is about an unnamed, famous personage (Churchill?) who visits after World War I. "Oases of Death" is about tiny gravesites that are left green. "Anglo-Saxon Tyranny" is a reflection on American and English sea-power. "Memories" is a reflection on Ireland in the first World War. "Movement" is a story about a weird crank in England, who becomes very vocal upon the beginning of the war. "Nature's Cad" is a rather weird story about a gorilla. "Home of Herr Schnitzelhaaser" is a saddening story about an old man, an old woman, and their pig. "Deed of Mercy" is a demonstration about how even evil people can give acts of mercy. "Last Scene of All" is a saddening story about a dying man and what he sees. "Old England" is a fitting finale to the collection, in which old John Plowman thinks about the men injured in the war.

Though the events of this book are either real or set in real situations, there is a vague sense of unreality in almost all of them. Only a few don't display Dunsany's dreamy prose, such as "Prayer" and "England," which have a solidly English feel to the dialogue and descriptions. The overall feeling of "Tales" is not anger or fear, but simply a sadness that all those people were killed, and the devastating effects on the countrypeople of both allies and enemies alike in the future. At the same time, like J.R.R. Tolkien, he shows good insight into the ordinary guys who were called from peaceful country homes to fight.

For some G-rated insight into the minds of the soldiers in the World Wars, this is a unique and interesting collection of stories and essays.

First, let me say that I am a fan of Lord Dunsany, I own almost all his writings and I consider them treasures in my library. However, I was very disappointed in "Tales of War." Darrell Schweitzer, the editor, acknowledges that this is a collection of propaganda vignettes, written by Dunsany for the British War Office during World War One, and that it is a rather minor addition to the Dunsanian canon. Schweitzer -- whom I greatly admire as a writer -- then goes overboard in his efforts to justify why this collection of insignificant flotsam was even published, rather than consigned to the ash-bin of history where it belongs. Rather lamely, Schweitzer comments that the "gracefulness of Dunsany's prose" raises these vignettes to the lofty status of literature, rather than mere anti-German jingoism. Yes, Dunsany was a great writer and he was incapable of inept prose. But good grammar and style does not automatically elevate a writer's production to the status of literature -- there remains the vexing problem of shallowness of conceptualization and jingoism in historical assertions. Well-written propaganda still remains, in the final analysis, mere propaganda. This booklet cries out for some shred of historical context and analysis, which sadly is lacking in the Introduction. At this point in history, there are numerous studies of the complex causes of "the Great War," which show that blame lay fairly equally on all sides. Dunsany's relentless drum-beat of demonization of Kaiser Wilhelm wears thin rather quickly. He referred to the Kaiser as a "homicidal maniac." Schweitzer confirms these stereotypes by stating that this was a "judgment borne out by history," and rather dismissively refers to alternative "revisionist theory" -- which at this stage of history is no longer "revisionist," it is widely accepted by mainstream historians. The reader is also left wondering about Dunsany's sentiments about Irish revolutionary fighters against the British during the war years, who were given support by Germany. Surely Dunsany, who considered himself at least half-Irish, had some mixed feelings about the political angst of his countrymen at this complex period in Irish history. When I purchased this booklet I expected that it would provide some personal anecdotes of Dunsany's experiences during war time, his experiences in the trenches. Sadly, that too was largely lacking. I found the book to be tedious, biased, and a sad commentary about how a brilliant writer like Dunsany was reduced to cranking out boring vignettes to serve the propaganda needs of the British war office.