Richard Aldington – 20th-century English writer and poet, author of Death of a Hero and the prize-winning biography Lawrence of Arabia. A co-founder of Imagism and veteran of WWI, he combined fierce anti-war critique with modernist style, becoming a literary voice of the “lost generation.”
📖 His novel Death of a Hero (1929) was among the first stark anti-war works after WWI. ✍️ Co-founded Imagism with Ezra Pound and H.D., reshaping English poetry. ⚔️ Served as a British officer, suffering physical and emotional war scars. 📚 Produced translations of classical Greek and Latin texts. 🏆 His biography Lawrence of Arabia won the French Prix Renaudot. 📰 Collaborated with The Egoist, a hub for modernists. ❤️ Married to poet H.D., though their marriage later dissolved. 🌍 Spent much of his life in France and Switzerland. 📖 Authored over 40 books – poetry, criticism, novels, and memoirs. 😲 Curious fact: his Lawrence biography caused outrage in Britain for “defaming a hero.” 😄 Funny fact: Aldington called himself an “optimistic pessimist” – “believing the worst, yet laughing at it.”