The Great War And Postmodern Memory

The end of the twentieth century was marked in Britain by a renewal of academic and public interest in the Great War, which remains one of the most defining historical events in British national consciousness. Focusing on questions of memory, this book examines some of the First World War narratives that were published during what has been called the late twentieth-century «war books boom». It provides a panoramic overview of these new war stories and offers close readings of texts written not only by best-selling authors such as Pat Barker and Sebastian Faulks, but also by less well-known writers who deserve greater academic attention, such as Robert Edric and Helen Dunmore. It investigates military historians’ claims about the lack of historical perspective of recent Great War writers, their perpetuation of «myths» and their inability to move beyond what has already been imagined and said. Positioned at a mid-point between literary analysis and history, this study challenges...