In the hospital ward, the similarly afflicted boys were all dressed alike in hospital gowns and suffered in the same manner.
He gives an example of being hospitalized as a child when he contracted Scarlet Fever. Prior to exposure to a diverse group of youngsters playing cricket, Graves had been raised in a culturally homogenous setting. Graves himself witnessed the class distinction himself as a child when he engaged in sports. As a young boy, he was constantly exposed to the belief that one social and financial class was superior to another. At the root of all of these “good-byes” was his desire to be rid of political, religious, and societal pretenses. Robert Graves said good-bye to many things militarism, class distinction, mindless chatter, organized religion, and most especially, authority.
Students, formal and otherwise, young and old, will discover for themselves to what Graves is saying good-bye. Aside from being an indispensable tool for teaching about the Great War, this book is also an excellent resource for social history and literary criticism. Graves, who was a captain in the Royal Welch Fusiliers, writes of his life from being raised in a well-to-do family, his experiences at boarding school, his activities during World War I, and how the war impacted his future. In his introduction to the book, author and World War II veteran Paul Fussell states that this is “the best memoir of the First World War.” He may be right. Initially published in 1929, Good-Bye to All That is the autobiography of author and poet, Robert Graves.
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