Once Again Assembled Here

Description

Stephen Maxwell has just retired from a lifetime spent teaching history at his alma mater. As he writes the official history of Blake's, a minor public school steeped in military tradition, he also reveals how, forty years ago, a secret conflict dating from the Second World War re-enacted itself among staff and pupils, when fascism once more made its presence felt in the school and the city, with violent and nightmarish results.

Sean O'Brien is a poet, critic, playwright, broadcaster, anthologist and editor. He grew up in Hull and now lives in Newcastle upon Tyne; he is Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. His six collections of poetry to date have all won awards, including The Drowned Book (Picador, 2007) which won both the Forward Prize for best collection and the T.S. Eliot Prize.

The sense of regretfully looking back through fading autumn sunlight on a life not really lived is wonderfully done * Daily Mail * A compelling narrative . . . O'Brien is an acclaimed poet and his second novel is stylish and controlled * Sunday Times * O'Brien's literary thriller is elegant, atmospheric and topical, with a dash of wry humour * Mail on Sunday *