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Private battles: Twelve Post-War Tales, by Graham Swift, reviewed

The latest short stories focus on everyday traumas: ageing, PTSD in a former soldier, and the loss of a parent, spouse or grandchild

17 May 2025

9:00 AM

17 May 2025

9:00 AM

Twelve Post-War Tales Graham Swift

Scribner, UK, pp.304, 18.99

When Granta magazine’s list of Best of Young British Novelists first appeared in 1983 it was a cue for me to immerse myself in the work of the named writers. There was the dazzling sardonic humour and knowing intelligence of Martin Amis; Ian McEwan’s twisty psychological thrillers; the cool prose of Kazuo Ishiguro, masking latent pain; and the fantastical, rich threads of Salman Rushdie.

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