Rupert Brooke

Rupert Brooke defies categorisation, even a century after his death. He was both romantic and a cynic, a radical and a conservative patriot, a passionate lover and a shy emotional bully with a horror of the physicality of sex. Yet is remains one of the few poets of his generation to still capture people's imagination today. In this brief biography, David Boyle pinpoints the real Brooke and tells the haunting story of the final few weeks of his life - and how quickly after his death he became a legend, and a symbol of something he may not have quite intended.