Beautiful book with lyrical prose. Anyone with any interest in war, psychology, sexuality, literature should read it.

The first in a trilogy of books set in WW1.

Set in Craiglockhart, Corps doctor Rivers is treating WW1 soldiers and officers. They have come to him to be assessed, cured and probably sent back to the front. His most illustrious ward is Sassoon, sent to him after missing a Board. Sassoon is trying to get a court-martial for refusing to fight - not for cowardice or religious grounds, just that the war should be stopped. His friend, Graves, is trying to save him by sending him to Rivers. Sassoon and Rivers forge a friendship that transcends the normal doctor-patient relationship. We also see a young, insecure young Wilfred Owen meeting Sassoon.

Among the other the patients is a young soldier who is literally wasting away because of the trauma of waking up on top of a corpse, now every time he eats, he feels he is taking in rotting flesh. Another character, Pryor (who is present in the other 2 books in the series), arrives unable to speak through a breakdown. Pryor is an interesting man, promoted from the ranks, he is in his own nomansland socially.

This is a very human book set in a very inhuman time, a senseless war. Rivers is a flawed man (he stutters), but this seems to lead him to connect better with his patients. Amongst other topics, Barker opens up the reality of WW1, the trenches, the yellow skin of the amunition girls, pacifists, physical and mental victims as well as a look at treatment methods. This is a strong opening to a great trilogy. ( )

Simply the best book I've read for a long time. I very much want to read the next two in the trilogy, although Regeneration stands perfectly well on it's own.

A fictional depiction of a real event, Barker visits the harrowing effect of the first world war trenches on inmates of a mental facility where eminent war poet Siegfried Sassoon spends time under the care of Dr. Rivers, an overworked psychiatrist with his own demons to battle. Sassoon had publicly decried the continuation of the war, placing him in danger of censure and prison; despite growing sympathy with his position, Rivers must guide Sassoon to the conclusion that he must return to the front, or he will never be able to live with his 'abandonment' of his men.

The characterisation (both major and peripheral) in this book is phenomenal. The handling of the subject of Sassoon's sexuality is both sensitive and era-appropriate; the inclusion of his meeting with the young and impressionable Wilfred Owen just blew me away (Owen is by far my favourite war poet, but I had never really bothered to explore who his influences might have been). Mostly, what grips the reader with this book is the exquisitely drawn realisation that war is an incredibly unnatural thing for a man to face, and the consequences can range from mild depression, to devastating and irreversible neuroses. ( )

A beautifully written novel, the first in Barker's "Regeneration Trilogy" (the third volume won the Booker Prize). Set in a war hospital in Engliand during World War I, the story revolves around several patients and physicians, including the poet Siegfried Sassoon. After serving honorably, Sassoon wrote an anti-war statement, which he asked an MP to read in session. His friend and fellow officer Robert Graves, knowing that Sassoon would be facing a court martial, claims the statement was due to battle fatigue and has him sent to Craiglockhaven for treatment. Dr. Rivers's task is to get Sassoon to agree to return to the front. A fascinating look at the social pressure put on young men during the war, as well as the effects of the war and of the treatment of the psychological scars it caused.

I listened to this one on audio, read wonderfully by Peter Firth, and I will be moving on to the next two volumes, [The Eye in the Door] and [The Ghost Road]. ( )

an amazing book. i've read it, that is to say, listened to it as i can no longer read, perhaps 10 times and just finished it again. the narration by peter firth is outstanding and nuanced.

barker is a master at dialogue and for me that elevates this book to greatness. the characters are finely drawn through description but, for me, even more so by their interchanges. ( )