In this episode of pplpod, we dive deep into the fascinating and paradoxical life of English writer and soldier Siegfried Sassoon. Known by his men on the Western Front as "Mad Jack" for his near-suicidal acts of bravery that earned him the Military Cross, Sassoon transformed from a decorated British army officer into one of the most prominent anti-war voices of World War I.

We explore his journey from writing romantic verses to penning gritty, realistic WWI poetry that exposed the true horrors of the trenches and satirized the jingoism of the era. We also cover his infamous 1917 "Soldier's Declaration," a lone act of defiance against the war's continuation that nearly resulted in a court-martial. Instead, he was sent to Craiglockhart War Hospital to be treated for "shell shock", where he met and profoundly influenced another legendary Brit ...