Published shortly before the author's death in 1919, this remarkable memoir addresses struggles with poverty, inadequate education, and the creeping paralysis of multiple sclerosis. Yet Barbellion still manages to write with uplifting eloquence and passion of his love for family, natural history, music, and literature. Told with a thoroughly modern voice, the unjustly overlooked Journal is reprinted here with its posthumous successor, A Last Diary. Introduction by H. G. Wells.
About W. N. P. Barbellion
W. N. P. Barbellion (1889 1919), whose real name was Bruce Frederick Cummings, was a keen naturalist who worked in the Entomology Department of London's Natural History Museum. Upon attempting to enlist in the British Army during World War I, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The discovery of his disease intensified the tenor of his journal-keeping, and his frank and articulate reflections on coping with a fatal disease remain a powerful testament to his life and struggles.
