In this first full critical study of Owen for 25 years, and the first ever to be based on research into all his surviving papers and books, Dominic Hibberd discusses the significance for his poetry of many scarcely known elements in his life: his battle with Revivalism; his discovery of the French Decadence; his alleged cowardice; his shellshock and its treatment; his homosexuality and his friendship with Oscar Wilde's followers. This is likely to be the most authoritative book on its subject for many years to come.