Samuel West reads Sassoon's uncensored poem Atrocities

When Siegfried Sassoon published his poem Atrocities in 1919 it was shocking in its description of British soldiers boasting about killing German prisoners.

But that version was heavily censored by publishers, with euphemisms such as 'How did you do them in?' replacing 'How did you kill them?', and other lines removed altogether.

Actor and director Samuel West, appearing on the Today programme, reads the uncensored version of the poem, before British academic Jean Moorcroft Wilson explains why its publishers originally modified it.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Thursday 10 July.