Edward Thomas was born in Lambeth, London, in 1878, and educated at St Paul’s College and Lincoln College, Oxford. Though his reputation is built on his poetry – which he took up at the suggestion of his friend Robert Frost – he was also a prolific writer of prose, much of it dedicated to capturing his love of the English countryside. Thomas voluntarily enlisted in the Artists’ Rifles in 1915 and was commissioned into the Royal Garrison Artillery in 1916. He was killed in action at Arras on 9 April 1917. He is buried in France and commemorated in Westminster Abbey.