In later years he omitted war poems from his collections, on the grounds that they were too obviously 'part of the war poetry boom'. He developed an early reputation as a war poet and was one of the first to write realistic poems about his experience of front line conflict.

He published his first volume of poems, Over the Brazier, in 1916. Johnstone, a boy of fourteen ('Dick' in Goodbye to All That) When challenged by the headmaster he defended himself by citing Plato, Greek poets, Michelangelo & Shakespeare, 'who had felt as I did'.Īt the outbreak of WWI, Graves enlisted almost immediately, taking a commission in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. While at Charterhouse in 1912, he fell in love with G.H. Robert von Ranke Graves (1895-1985), born in Wimbledon, received his early education at King's College School and Copthorne Prep School, Wimbledon & Charterhouse School and won a scholarship to St John's College, Oxford. In 1934, Robert Graves was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his historical novels dealing with the Roman Emperor Claudius. Following his recovery, he wrote several works of war poetry as well as a memoir of his time in combat, entitled Goodbye to All That. Robert Graves served in combat in World War I and was gravely wounded at the Battle of the Somme. Graves is best known for his historical novels, which include I, Claudius, Claudius, the God, The Golden Fleece, King Jesus, and Count Belisarius. In addition to novels and poetry, he published groundbreaking analysis of Greek mythology, as well as memoir. He was an extremely prolific writer, who published more than 140 novels and collections of poetry.

Robert Graves (1895-1985) was an English novelist, poet, and translator of Classical Greek and Roman literature, and one of the most prominent English writers of the 20th century. A best-selling novel and one of Graves’ most successful, I, Claudius has been adapted to television, film, theatre, and audio. Weaving important themes throughout about the nature of freedom and safety possible in a safety and a monarchy, Graves’ Claudius is both more effective and more tragic than history typically remembers him. Yet, on the death of Caligula, Claudius finds himself next in line for the throne, and must stay alive as well as keep control.ĭrawing on the histories of Plutarch, Suetonius, and Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, noted historian and classicist Robert Graves tells the story of the much-maligned Emperor Claudius with both skill and compassion. Once a rather bookish young man with a limp and a stammer, a man who spent most of his time trying to stay away from the danger and risk of the line of ascension, Claudius seemed an unlikely candidate for Emperor.

I claudius graves