ABSTRACT
The separate parts of Pat Barker's Regeneration Trilogy - Regeneration, The Eye in the Door and The Ghost Road-came out between 1991 and 1995 and
have since been brought together in a single volume. Each of them won high
praise from reviewers as they appeared and The Ghost Road was awarded the
Booker Prize in 1995. One can see why. The trilogy contains a great deal of
strong and expressive writing, skilful construction and persuasive presentation
of character. The narrative takes one forward steadily and compellingly through
the three volumes. But despite these many successful aspects I find something
unconvincing about the whole work, and in this essay I shall try to discover
why. The First World War continues to fascinate readers of history and fiction;
this was apparent in Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks's bestselling novel of 1993.
