Includes bibliographical references and index.

In his youth, C.S. Lewis served in the British army, was wounded in France, entered into his affair with Janie Moore, and wrote and published his first book of poems. To augment the limited accounts of this period, Lewis's life is presented with the general and specific background which makes it more meaningful, particularly as it throws light on his character. The romantic myth of him as a 'soldier-poet' is dispelled, largely through an extensive review of the poems in 'Spirits in Bondage' and the self-centered life that produced them. A valuable comparison-not to the advantage of Lewis-is drawn with two undoubted soldier-poets, Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon.

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