The poems in this book were written between 1944 and 1946 whilst the author was serving with the Friends Ambulance Unit, first in London hospitals and then in northwest Europe following the Allied advance. He remained in Germany during the aftermath of the war working with displaced persons, refugees, and civilians. Roland J. Harris (1919-1969) became a teacher and pioneering educational researcher, and author of textbooks and articles on the teaching of English grammar and poetry. On the Schools Council he was instrumental in raising the school-leaving age to sixteen. Together with his wife Martha Harris he conceived and started the Schools Counselling course at the Tavistock Clinic. Later he taught psycholinguistics at Brunel University. A Journey Abroad (his own title) is accompanied by photographs that he took at the time. These complex poems constitute a historical record, an analysis of pacifist convictions, a deeply introspective autobiographical narrative, and above all, a celebration of life.
