This is a moving story about the side of war that you don't always get told about in other war novels. It follows the lives of several soldiers, including the poets Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, as they are treated for shell shock. I found it very refreshing to read about life for the soldiers once they have stopped fighting after having read so many novels that focus on life in the trenches. An amazing read. I can't recommend it enough.

A thoughtful, sombre and unafraid novel which explores the mental state of soldiers – and civilians – affected by the First World War. Its chief character is the army psychologist Dr Rivers, who works tirelessly with his shell-shocked patients at Craiglockhart, even as he struggles with his own problems and cannot help diagnosing himself with war neurosis. Throughout this novel Rivers’ main concern is the problem of the comparatively sane Siegfried Sassoon and his protest against the war. The story weaves in and out of different patients’ perspectives, telling a small number of narratives which all add up to a very interesting account of soldiers’ reactions to the trauma of warfare, and how best to deal with it. A particularly effective moment in the novel is when Rivers is confronted with another doctor’s method for curing muteness, which essentially consists of torturing the patient by means of electric shocks until he speaks. The most impressive feature of this novel is the ease with which Barker recreates real people. Sassoon, Robert Graves and Wilfred Owen – to name just a few key people – are distinctively and authentically characterised, and blend in neatly with characters of the author’s own creation. Neither type seems favoured above another. The conversations and interactions between the characters reveal the intricacies of the patients’ thoughts, and the wider perceptions of society concerned both the war, and those psychologically affected by it. Another major theme is the treatment of shell-shock, and indeed the treatment of conscientious objectors. Siegfried Sassoon’s case was a curiosity at the time, and a scandal – for he did not oppose fighting, merely the reasons for which it was happening. Regeneration teases out the thoughts behind Sassoon’s stand, and places him in the context of other soldiers mentally affected by the warfare. All in all this novel is a convincing story of the First World War’s impact on individuals beyond the trenches – told in a way which makes the horrors of the trenches an ever-present part of the story without having to take the action to them. It tackles a difficult subject-matter and successfully depicts life from the viewpoints of a variety of different people.

This is a very good book , but the film is much better and I'm glad I watched it first. The book goes on a very different journey with Rivers , and not a lot on the meetings with Sassoon and Owen ,which I wanted as in the film . The film stays in the main in Craiglockheart the book doesn't it wonders . The ending of the film is a very emotional scene never to be forgotten, ending with Rivers reading a Owen poem sent to him by Sassoon , on Owens death , it's not even in the book , so in my view the screen play is 5 stars . The book 3 at best . In my view ....

What have I bought, this copy is Rubbish , the print is so small it's vertually unreadable , it's smeared as in the words are smeared ink marks ECT , in parts , and the paper is no better than w/c paper , a friend picked it up for me as in a ( click and collect ) and thought it was a joke copy . It looks and feels like a boot leg sort of thing ,I'm am so disappointed , in the books quality , NOT THE SUBJECT . can anyone advise me , is this the sort of thing I can expect . From paper backs now ???? It was £ 8:99 . I can't be bothered to take it back , it really is only fit for the bin , never thought I'd say that about waterstones . HELP Thanks .