Overview

One of Canada's most successful and enduring musical plays, Billy Bishop Goes to War was first published in 1982 and went on to win the Los Angeles Drama Critics' Award and the Governor General's Award for Drama. In 2010, the celebrated story of the World War One flying ace - credited with seventy-two victories and billed as the top pilot in the British Empire - was revised to frame the original play as a retrospective. It is the same play it always was - the difference is in the telling. Billy Bishop now appears in his later years, reflecting on his wartime exploits, and on the business of war and hero making. Bishop's reminiscence is not so much about the horror and death of war as it is about being young and intensely alive. "The prime of life / The best of men," Bishop sings, "It will never be / Like this again."

A memory play about war, Billy Bishop has been going into battle onstage for more than thirty years. The Canadian classic is revisited in this second edition, where war is still a terrible thing, but some men say it was the greatest time of their lives. It's about the ironies and the price of survival.

The play format is deceptively simple with a solo narrator who assumes multiple roles while his piano-playing sidekick offers sardonic musical comments.

Cast of 2 men.


ISBN-13

9780889226890

ISBN-10

088922689X

Weight

0.37 Pounds

Dimensions

5.50 x 0.31 x 8.50 In

List Price

$17.95

Edition

2nd Edition

Format

Paperback

Language

English

Pages

128 pages

Publisher

Talonbooks

Published On

2012-10-30



View All Offers

Sort by:

Condition
Seller
Seller Comments
Price
Used, Good
Seller details
SurplusTextSeller
★★★★★

Columbia, MO, USA

Ships in a BOX from Central Missouri! May not include working access code. Will not include dust j...
$13.80

 Free delivery by: 04 Apr 2026

Used, Very Good
Seller details
FirstClassBooks
★★★★★

Little Rock, AR, USA

$17.08

 Free delivery by: 04 Apr 2026

Used, Good
Seller details
Bonita
★★★★☆

Santa Clarita, CA, USA

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.
$41.45

 Free delivery by: 04 Apr 2026


Bookstores.com relies on cookies to improve your experience.