From Journey’s End to The Dam Busters, The Life of R C Sherriff Playwright of the Trenches

A comprehensive account of the life of R C Sherriff, junior officer 
and famous writer. One of the WWI survivors who made a lucrative 
career as a novelist, playwright and screenwriter. His movie work is 
still very well known but not the man. This book provides a full 
picture – great read.

NAME: From Journey's End to The Dam Busters, The Life of R C Sherriff 
Playwright of the Trenches
FILE: R2406
AUTHOR:  Roland Wales
PUBLISHER: Pen & Sword
BINDING: hard back 
PAGES:  388
PRICE: £25.00
GENRE: Non Fiction
SUBJECT: WWI, World War 1, World War One, First World War, playwright, 
films, movies, novelist, junior officer, screenwriter
ISBN: 1-47386-069-5
IMAGE: B2405.jpg
BUYNOW: http://tinyurl.com/jtf7b3j
LINKS: Current Discount Offers http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/sale 
DESCRIPTION: A comprehensive account of the life of R C Sherriff, 
junior officer and famous writer. One of the WWI survivors who made a 
lucrative career as a novelist, playwright and screenwriter. His movie 
work is still very well known but not the man. This book provides a 
full picture – great read.

Sherriff was marked by his experiences in WWI, as were a great many 
of the survivors. As part of his adjustment to life beyond the terror 
of a terrible war of attrition, he wrote “Journey's End” which was a 
play based on his experiences. It has become a classic, internationally 
renowned.

The author has described how “Journey's End” was written and has 
examined Sherriff's wartime letters and diaries. This provides an 
insightful account that could have applied to any of the survivors of 
war as they exist in awful conditions and then have to rebuild their 
lives in readjusting to civilian life. 

Sherriff's creative career was extraordinary and is laid out 
sensitively in the book, with a good photo-plate section that adds 
greatly to the text.  His film work provides a base for the exploration 
of Hollywood in the 1930s.

It was during WWII that some of his most interesting work was done 
where he fought his own battles, both with the censor and with Nazi 
attempts to interfere in his films. These films have become well-known 
and continue to be screened on television, but he has become unknown 
as is often the case with screenwriters, overshadowed by the actors 
and the Hollywood characters.

His “Lady Hamilton” was much admired when it was released and it was 
Churchill's favourite movie. He was also involved in some delicate 
work because the making of the film “Dam Busters” was undertaken while 
the 'Bouncing Bomb' was still a top secret.

This is a fascinating book that will appeal to so many readers with 
different interests. The sections relating to Sherriff's WWI 
experiences will appeal to those interested in that war, but also 
relate to later wars, where the greatest challenges and courage come 
after the battle as the survivors struggle to readjust to civilian 
life. This is common across wars because warriors gain a unique 
experience that is difficult to describe, even if they wanted to, to 
family and friends who remained civilians. It is also difficult to 
share with children, increasing the natural 'generation gap'. The 
warrior feels that civilians should appreciate his or her war 
experiences and service, but there is no reason why that should be. 
Then there is the significant difference between  the strong colours 
of war, the comradeship, and the relatively monochrome life after war. 
The main body of the book will appeal strongly to all those interested 
in creative writing and movies, but there is also opposition that had 
to be overcome from censors and the US Senate, carrying a strong 
political element.