Understand the Weapon, Understand the Wound

Overview

Born in 1915 in Cambridge, England, Rupert John Cornford was a committed communist who fought in defence of Madrid during the Spanish Civil War and was killed in uncertain circumstances at Lopera, near Córdoba in 1936. Though his life was tragically brief, he documented his experiences of the conflict through poetry, letters to family and his lover, and political and critical prose which spoke out against the fascist regime and its ideologies. Edited by key US literary figure Jonathan Galassi, and with a new afterword, Cornford's eclectic writings are presented together in this compelling collection.

Reviews

"Cornford's life speaks for itself in a way that burns the imagination. The fact that Cornford lived is an important lesson to the leaders of democracies. It shows that people will live and die and fight for democracy if it gives them the justice and freedom which are worth fighting for." —Stephen Spender

Author Biography

Rupert John Cornford (1915 – 1936) was an English poet, communist and Charles Darwin's great-grandson. He was a member of the International Brigades and died while fighting fascism during the Spanish Civil War. Jonathan Galassi was born in Seattle, is the President and Publisher of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, one of the eight major publishers in New York. He is a translator and poet and his honors include a 1989 Guggenheim Fellowship and being an honorary chairman of the Academy of American Poets.