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Brought to you by Penguin. Consisting of four novels - Some Do Not..., No More Parades, A Man Could Stand Up and The Last Post - Parade's End is the story of Christopher Tietjens and his progress from the secure world of Edwardian England into the First World War and beyond. Both a portrait of a...

This is the second novel in the series of four, depicting the meeting, courtship and ultimate fulfilment of two modern heroes, Christopher Tietjens and Valentine Wannop, despite social condemnation, personal travails and World War I.

Handsome, wealthy, and a veteran of service in India, Captain Edward Ashburnham appears to be the ideal "good soldier" and the embodiment of English upper-class virtues. But for his creator, Ford Madox Ford, he also represents the corruption at society's core. Beneath Ashburnham's charming, polished exterior lurks a soul well-versed in the arts of deception, hypocrisy, and betrayal.

The first volume of Parade's End introduces the central characters: Christopher Tietjens, a brilliant, unconventional mathematician; his dazzling but unfaithful wife Sylvia; and the young Suffragette Valentine Wannop. It starts with the cataclysmic meeting of Tietjens and Valentine: a weekend whose violence prefigures the coming war.

The Last Post, the fourth and final volume of Parade's End, is set on a single post-war summer's day. Valentine Wannop and Christopher Tietjens share a cottage in Sussex with Tietjens' brother and sister-in-law. Through their differing perspectives, Ford explores the tensions between his characters in a changing world, haunted by the experience of war, facing an insecure future for themselves and for England.

A Man Could Stand Up, the third volume of Parade's End, brings Ford's characters to the 'crack across the table of History', across which lie their uncertain post-war futures. Divided into three parts, the novel is a kaleidoscopic vision of a society at climactic moment.

Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End tetralogy, written in the aftermath of World War I, was originally published in four parts in the 1920s: Some Do Not…; No More Parades; A Man Could Stand Up —; and Last Post. Highlighting the tension between traditional values and a rapidly changing social order in a world embroiled in war, the story details Tietjens' turmoils in both his personal life and on the warfront—and what follows when some of those struggles become one and the same.

An invading group from the Fourth Dimension takes over a corrupt Earth - Summary by Mark Leder

Last Post is the fourth and final installment of Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End tetralogy, a work that Ford hoped would contribute to the obviating of all future wars. The story follows Christopher Tietjens, a wealthy British landowner and the last British Tory; his wife, Sylvia; and his mistress, Valentine Wannop.

Set in the turbulent era just before and during the Great War, Some Do Not... delves into the dark depths of social cruelty within the English upper class. This gripping tale contrasts genuine honor with shameless duplicity, thrusting its central characters into extreme psychological turmoil that echoes the unspeakable physical horrors of the battlefield. The narrative follows the complex lives of Christopher Tietjens, a brilliant yet impossibly principled man; his frosty wife Sylvia; and Valentine Wannop, a passionate and educated young woman who is Christophers equal in both intellect and ...

First published in 1925, No More Parades received high praise from critics, with The Observer declaring the initial 100 pages to easily surpass in truth, brilliance, and subtlety everything else that has yet been written in England about the physical circumstances and moral atmosphere of the war. As the second novel in the Parades End tetralogy, it follows army captain Christopher Tietjens—a former civil servant and statistician—alongside his beautiful yet cruel wife Sylvia, and his jealous and tempestuous godfather, General Campion. Set in the tumultuous backdrop of Rouen, France in 1917,...

In the final installment of Ford Madox Fords Parades End tetralogy, Last Post invites readers into a poignant and elegiac narrative. Set against the backdrop of rural England years after the Great War, we find Christopher Tietjens and his partner Valentine Wannop navigating the complexities of their lives as they await the arrival of a child. Meanwhile, Christophers older brother lies incapacitated, and the specter of his fiery wife Sylvia looms, threatening to disrupt their fragile peace. Fords storytelling demands engagement and patience as it weaves between different times and perspectives,...

First published in 1915, *The Good Soldier* can be described as a melodrama of English upper-class infidelities, intricately pieced together and retold in a non-linear fashion by a narrator who sometimes seems half-asleep. While this perspective holds some truth, many readers have recognized the novels enchanting voice, pioneering narrative style, and sharp portrayal of erotic repression as the hallmarks of a literary masterpiece. In 2015, the BBC ranked *The Good Soldier* 13th on its list of the 100 greatest British novels. (Summary by Peter Dann)

When a train accident catapults Mr. Sorrell back to the enchanting Middle Ages, he is mistaken for a miraculous Greek slave. As he navigates the customs and intricacies of this bygone era, he finds himself not only adapting but also falling deeply in love. The more he embraces this new life, the more he questions his desire to return to the present. Will he choose to stay in the past where his heart truly belongs? Summary by Scarbo

A Man Could Stand Up marks the third and final installment of Ford Madox Fords acclaimed Parades End tetralogy, following Some Do Not and No More Parades, with Last Post serving as its poignant coda. While this novel can be enjoyed on its own, it truly shines for those already acquainted with its predecessors. Set against the backdrop of World War I, particularly in the trenches of France in 1918, it weaves a rich tapestry of social upheaval, profound love, and the complexities of human experience. Much like Virginia Woolfs Mrs. Dalloway, published just a year prior, Fords work appeals to ...

The Fifth Queen is Ford Maddox Ford’s masterful trilogy of historical fiction centered on Katharine Howard, a young girl of a proud, noble, and impoverished family who catches the jaded eye of Henry VIII and becomes his controversial fifth Queen.

In the gripping conclusion of Fords The Fifth Queen trilogy, we follow the tumultuous journey of Katharine Howard, now a queen but facing perilous challenges. As calumnious rumors swirl through the kings court, Katharines reputation and very life hang in the balance. Will she navigate the treacherous waters of royal intrigue and secure her place in history? (Summary by Scarbo) The Fifth Queen Privy Seal

The Good Soldier (1915) unfolds just before World War I, painting a poignant portrait of two seemingly flawless couples whose lives are marred by tragedy. Through a masterful use of non-chronological storytelling and the innovative technique of the unreliable narrator, author Ford Madox Ford gradually unveils a narrative that starkly contrasts with the initial impressions given. Inspired by real-life incidents of infidelity and Fords own tumultuous experiences, this novel offers a deep exploration of love, betrayal, and the complexities of human relationships. (Summary by Wikipedia) Music ...

Two couples, two marriages; both seemingly perfect, both falling apart. Beneath the surface gentility of the American John Dowell with his wife Florence and the landed grace of Edward and Leonora lie fictions and deceit. There are secret desires, hidden power-games, suicides and madness. Everyone is hiding something; even the narrator can’t be trusted. Brilliantly inventive, tragic and ironic, The Good Soldier is one of the great novels of the 20th century.

The Good Soldier was first published in 1915. The iconic novel might be characterized as a melodrama of English upper-class infidelities, cut into little pieces, then retold out of sequence by a narrator who occasionally appears to be half asleep. That is not wholly wrong, yet many have seen in this novel's beguiling voice, innovative narrative technique, and acute depiction of erotic repression a literary masterpiece. In 2015, the BBC ranked The Good Soldier 13th on its list of the 100 greatest British novels.