THE OPENING CHAPTER

Harry Donoghue

Harry Donoghue writes the opening chapter, on Homer and the war that never quite ends.

Photograph of Harry Donoghue.

Where the book begins

Harry reads Latin and Greek closely and writes about classical poetry. His chapter opens The Language of War with Homer, the earliest place where war is put into language.

He starts with the part of war that most speeches leave out, the coming home, and the glory set against everything it costs.