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THE POETICAL WORKS OF GILBERT FRANKAU. 1923. 2 volumes, In case.

Gilbert Frankau (April 21, 1884- 4 November 1952) was a popular British novelist. He was known also for verse (he was a war poet of World War I) including a number of verse novels, and short stories. He was born in London into a Jewish family, but was baptised as an Anglican at the age of 13. He was educated at Eton College, and went into the family cigar business.

> Gilbert Frankau was commissioned into the 9th Battalion, East Surry Regiment in October 1914. In March 1915 he transferred to the Royal Field Artillery. He fought at Loos, Ypres and on the Somme. In October 1916 he was appointed a Staff Captain in Italy, working in counter-propaganda. He was invalided out of the army with shell-shock in February 1918. He also served in the RAF Volunteer Reserve in the early part of the Second World War.
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> He was notorious for his post-war hatred of the Germans. He wrote a number of poems with this as their theme. He would not countenance any idea of fellowship or forgiveness. His poem 'Poison', written in April 1919 about the first use of poisonous gas by the Germans in April 1915 is a good example of this. So is 'The Reason', written in November 1918, which begins with the lines: 'You ask me why I loathe these Germans beasts / So much that I have dedicated self - / Brains, heart, and soul - to one black creed of hate...' Even allowing for the exaggeration of poetic license, it is pretty strong stuff.
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He served in the British Army from the outbreak of war in 1914, first in 9th Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment), and then with the rank of Captain as a gunner in 107th Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery, experience that he later used in novels. He fought in major battles of the British Expeditionary Force in France, and wrote for the Wipers Times, before being invalided out and given a posting in Italy. The family business not having survived the war, he became a writer.

His novels, while having conventional romantic content, also contained material from his own conservative politics, and meditations on Jewish identity in the climate of the times. Some of them were filmed (see Christopher Strong; If I Marry Again was based on a short story). His political ambitions were frustrated by the fact that he was a divorcee (he married three times), not acceptable in the Conservative Party of the time. He notoriously wrote a 1933 article As a Jew I am not Against Hitler for the Daily Express, shortly after Adolf Hitler had come to power in Germany; he later retracted his position.