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Regeneration

The first novel in the Booker Prize-winning World War One trilogy

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Regeneration

By: Pat Barker
Narrated by: Simon Russell Beale
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

The modern classic of contemporary war fiction from Women's Prize-shortlisted author of The Silence of the Girls

Recommended by Richard Osman

Regeneration is the first novel in Pat Barker's Booker Prize-winning Regeneration trilogy - a powerfully moving portrait of the deep legacy of human trauma in the First World War

Craiglockhart War Hospital, Scotland, 1917, and army psychiatrist William Rivers is treating shell-shocked soldiers. Under his care are the poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, as well as mute Billy Prior, who is only able to communicate by means of pencil and paper. Rivers's job is to make the men in his charge healthy enough to fight. Yet the closer he gets to mending his patients' minds the harder becomes every decision to send them back to the horrors of the front. Pat Barker's Regeneration is the classic exploration of how the traumas of war brutalised a generation of young men.

'Brilliant, intense and subtle' Peter Kemp, Sunday Times

'One of the strongest and most interesting novelists of her generation' Guardian

'Unforgettable' Sunday Telegraph

© Pat Barker 1991 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

 20th Century Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction War & Military World War I War Military Scary
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All stars
Most relevant
I have read the book. And this audio book does it justice. Moving and poignant.

Excellent

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A great book for anyone interested in the history of 'Shell shock', Rivers, Sassoon or the first world War and Edwardian attitudes in general. Well read, the reading pace felt a little pedestrian at first but actually I came to think it was the best to read it in order to capture the style of the characters without having to put on voices and detract from the importance of the prose.

An excellent book and well read

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I loved this. It went into me with relentless gentle empathy. SRB used a conversational tone perfect for therapist relationships. He effortlessly attached different voice for the soldiers and women. The book is stunning. I’d put off reading for years as had the unfounded preconceived idea that it was all in the trenches. 10/10 brilliant

Absolutely fantastic-SRB on brilliant form letting the emotion out

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Excellent weaving of fact and fiction. Opened my eyes to the reality and horror of war and the impact on soldiers mental health.

Not all men want war

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Loved it.. in this war mongering world, a book that is so relevant, beautifully written & researched. If only we read more such books… would we send our young men to war??

Amazingly current

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