On 28 April 1939, Graves visited America and while there his relationship with Laura Riding finally ended. On his return to England in August, Graves re-united with Beryl Pritchard, who was at the time married to Alan Hodge (Graves would eventually marry Beryl in May 1950).
One outcome from the trip was the idea of a novel set in the time of the American War of Independence and based on the Journal of Sergeant Roger Lamb of the Royal Welch Fusiliers.
Hodge, who remained on good terms with Graves and Beryl, assisted in the production of Sergeant Lamb of the North, and Proceed, Sergeant Lamb, originally a one volume book but divided into two because of wartime restrictions.
The jacket design on display is by Graves’s friend John Aldridge.