'The corpus of Edmund Blunden's work both in verse and prose' writes Professor Hardie 'is formidable and comprehensive'. He examines the range and influence of the critical works, and supports his belief that Undertones of War was the most important prose work about World War I. His essay is, however, mainly directed to the interpretation of Edmund Blunden's works through his poetry.

Professor Blunden held the Chair of English in Tokyo University from 1924 to 1927, was Fellow and Tutor in English at Merton College, Oxford, from 1931 to 1943, and from 1953 until his retirement in 1964 he held the Chair of English at the University of Hong Kong. In 1966 he was appointed to the Chair of Poetry at the University of Oxford.

Professor Hardie was a pupil of Edmund Blunden at Merton College, Oxford, and later joined him in Hong Kong as Lecturer in English.