Journey to a War

Journey to a War is a travel book in prose and verse by W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood, published in 1939.

The book is in three parts: a series of poems by Auden describing his and Isherwood's journey to China in 1938 ; a "Travel-Diary" by Isherwood (including material first drafted by Auden) about their travels in China itself, and their observations of the Sino-Japanese War; and "In Time of War: A Sonnet Sequence with a Verse Commentary" by Auden, with reflections on the contemporary world and their experiences in China. The book also contains a selection of photographs by Auden.

Auden revised many of the poems in this book for his later collections; "In Time of War" was renamed "Sonnets from China" (with many original sonnets discarded) and the verse commentary was dropped entirely.

References

* W. H. Auden, "Prose and Travel Books in Prose and Verse, 1927-1938", ed. Edward Mendelson (1997)
* John Fuller, "W. H. Auden: A Commentary" (1999).
* Edward Mendelson, "Early Auden" (1981).

External links

[http://audensociety.org The W. H. Auden Society]