Journey's End

R. C. Sherriff

Oct 2000 · Penguin UK

About this eBook

Set in the First World War, Journey's End concerns a group of British officers on the front line and opens in a dugout in the trenches in France. Raleigh, a new eighteen-year-old officer fresh out of English public school, joins the besieged company of his friend and cricketing hero Stanhope, and finds him dramatically changed ...

Laurence Olivier starred as Stanhope in the first performance of Journey's End in 1928; the play was an instant stage success and remains a remarkable anti-war classic.

Ratings and reviews

Very good. Sound like a realistic picture of how war affected people. Surprised I hadn't heard of the play with the 100 year anniversary.

About the author

R.C. Sherriff (1896-1975) served as a captain in the East Surrey regiment during the First World War and subsequently tried his hand at writing. Following rejection by many theatre managements, Journey's End was given a single performance by the Incorporated Stage Society, in which Lawrence Olivier took the lead role. The play's enormous success enabled Sherriff to become a full-time writer. He is remembered for his plays, the screenplays for the films The Invisible Man (1933), Goodbye Mr Chips (1933) and The Dam Busters (1955), and the novel The Hopkins Manuscript (1939).