British poetry is in a wonderful state at present. Never have so many poets been saying so many interesting things in such lively, up-to-date ways. Yet many people feel shut out or know little about poetry and have no idea where to begin. In this groundbreaking book, Ruth Padel takes fifty- two of the poems she discussed in her newspaper column- a year’s worth- and suggests ways of reading them. The poems are by a wide range of living poets, on experiences we all share- love, sex, death, nature, history, war- which show how reading a poem can enhance everyone’s life as powerfully and as pleasurably as reading novels or watching a film.