The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion

Kenneth Womack is a Professor at Pennsylvania State University at Altoona.

William Baker is a Professor at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb.

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Ford's masterpiece, a riveting story, and one of the most compelling examples of early Modernism, The Good Soldier is here presented in a new edition by one of the leading Ford scholars. Includes Ford's crucial essay 'On Impressionism', written contemporaneously with the novel and which sheds important light on understanding it. Introduction locates the novel as a key work of Modernism, relating it to Ford's other work. It addresses the nature of literary Impressionism, its relationship with the psychological realism of the characters, sexuality, the historical context and attitudes to Englishness. Includes a chronology of the novel's main events. Up-to-date bibliography and notes providing further contextual background. New to this edition Introduction by leading Ford scholar Max Saunders. Notes, chronology, up-to-date bibliography. New chronology of the events in the story. Ford's key essay, 'On Impressionism' in an appendix. Newly set text, using the British first edition. 'This is the saddest story I have ever heard.' Wealthy American John Dowell describes in a disarmingly casual, compellingly intimate manner how he and his wife Florence meet an English couple in a German spa resort. They become friends over the years and gradually the history of their relationships and the passions that lie behind the orderly Edwardian façade are unveiled. Dowell is the archetypal 'unreliable narrator', and his casual revelations are both unexpected and explosive. A masterpiece of early Modernism and a virtuoso performance of literary skill, Ford's 'Tale of Passion' reflects contemporary interests in psychology, sexuality, and the New Woman. Its portrayal of the destruction of a civilized elite anticipates the cataclysm of the First World War, which erupted while Ford was finishing the book. This new edition includes Ford's important essay 'On Impressionism', which sheds valuable light on his artistic technique. Readership: Fiction readers and lovers of Edwardian literature and classic twentieth-century literature; students of the novel, Modernism, fin de siécle.

 • "One of the finest novels of our century." --Graham Greene
"The narrative casts a mesmeric spell... intelligent, beautifully written, heartfelt and true, and a great book" Sunday Times "I would rather have written Ford Madox Ford's novel than all the books I have written. After reading it a dozen times, I still find a mystery at its heart... an exercise in elegance and a triumph of structure. I am always imitating it and always failing. The prose makes my heart ache with envy" -- Ruth Rendell Guardian "An astounding novel" The Times "Sometimes the best presents come in small packages...masterful" Daily Telegraph "A central figure, artistically and influentially, in the modern movement...a masterpiece of Impressionism, as well as of intricate plotting, technical manipulation and powerful irony" Guardian