Robert Graves was born in Wimbledon in July 1895. A poet, novelist, critic and classical scholar, he published over 120 volumes across a number of fields, historical fiction, mythology, poetry, and a classic memoir of the First World War - Goodbye To All That in 1929. Graves began to write poetry while a student at London's Charterhouse School and continued to do so during his wartime service. In the period between 1916 and 1917 he published three volumes of verse. At the outbreak of war he enlisted with the Royal Welch Fusiliers and was seriously wounded in 1916 while serving with them.
While serving with the Royal Welch Fusiliers he struck up a friendship with a fellow poet, Siegfried Sassoon. The horror of his wartime experiences had a profound effect upon Graves and he published his first volume of poems in 1916. At the battle of the Somme in 1916 he was so seriously injured that his family were informed of his death. However, he recovered despite the permanent damage that was done to his lungs. He spent the rest of the war in England and made numerous efforts to return to the front. Graves played a crucial role in saving his friend Siegfried Sassoon from being court martialled following the publication of Sassoon's letter denouncing the war.