Journey's End: The Classic War Play Explored

by Robert Gore-Langton

R C Sherriff’s Journey’s End is a syllabus text and the most famous play about World War One. First staged in 1928, this book tells the story of what went into the making of this extraordinary and powerful trench drama. It outlines Sherriff’s career from humble insurance clerk to infantry officer and his unforgettable 10 months on the western front before he was invalided home, lucky to be alive.


Sherriff poured into his first professional play his personal experience of living in a front-line dug-out. Using his diary and letters home, the book charts his emotional life under fire and relates it directly to the play, its events and its characters. It also tells the story of Journey’s End’s incredible box office success across the world, a triumph which made its shy young author famous overnight.

Taking in the history of the show right up to the most recent productions, Journey’s End: The Classic War Play Explored is a meditation on Journey’s End’s achievement as a war document, its fascination for audiences when it was first staged and its continuing grip on theatregoers and students today.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

136 pages, Paperback

First published June 19, 2013

Reviews

[Bookthesp1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, chatty, curious and enlightening account of the genesis of Journeys End and the life of RC Sherriff. Gore-Langton makes really effective use of Sherriffs own experience of war and his subsequent post-war career. Indeed, the book is as much about World War One as it is about the play itself. There are startling facts about the war and conditions in the trenches as well as a good summary of the plays stage history. Themes are also considered and its standing alongside classics such as All Quiet on the Western Front and Oh What a Lovely War is well discussed. Anecdotes and stories about players in the various productions are both amusing and enlightening. Published before the most recent film version it can still be considered a very apposite and enjoyable account of this classic play. Very readable and highly recommended.