Focusing on the war on the Western and Southern fronts and inclusive of material from all sides of the conflict, this book explores the novels and poems of significant soldier-writers alongside important contemporary historical documents.
The literary works of the First World War are one of the richest sources we have for understanding one of the twentieth century's most significant conflicts. Not only do many of them have historical merit, but some were critically acclaimed by both contemporaries and subsequent scholars. For example, Henri Barbusse's Under Fire, one of the earliest novels of the war, won accolades in France and the respect of war poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen as well as novelists Erich Maria Remarque and Ernest Hemingway.
This book examines these works and those of war poets Rupert Brooke and John McCrae and others, providing context as well as opportunities to explore thematic elements with primary source documents, such as diaries, letters, memoirs, newspaper and journal articles, speeches, and government publications. It is unique in its use of literary and historical sources as mediums by which to both better understand the literature of the war and use literature to better understand the war itself.
Table of Contents:
Series Foreword,
Acknowledgments,
Introduction and Background,
Chronology,
1 Under Fire (Henri Barbusse, 1916),
Synopsis of Under Fire,
Historical Background of Under Fire: The First Years of the Western Front in the First World War,
About Henri Barbusse,
Why We Read Under Fire,
Historical Explorations of Under Fire,
Documenting Under Fire,
Trench Warfare: The War of Attrition,
Document: General Erich von Falkenhayn, "Christmas Letter" to Kaiser Wilhelm II (1915),
Document: Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, Letter to Newspapers (May 1916),
Document: Paul Painleve, Speech on Failure of the French Army (July 7, 1917),
Document: Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, Order to Troops (April 11, 1918),
Officers and Soldiers,
Document: Selections from the Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas (1915-1916),
Document: Selections from the Diary of Arthur Graeme West (1916),
Document: E. A. Mackintosh, "In Memoriam: Private David Sutherland" (1918),
The Enemy,
Document: Fritz Kreisler, Four Weeks in the Trenches (1915),
Document: Selections from the Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas (1915-1916),
Document: Ernst Jünger, Storm of Steel (1920),
Suggested Readings,
2 All Quiet on the Western Front (Erich Maria Remarque, 1929),
Synopsis of All Quiet on the Western Front,
Historical Background of All Quiet on the Western Front:
The Last Years of the Western Front in the First World War,
About Erich Maria Remarque,
Why We Read All Quiet on the Western Front,
Historical Explorations of All Quiet on the Western Front, 71
Documenting All Quiet on the Western Front, Governments at War,
Document: German Government, "Censorship Guidelines (Supplement)" (November 9, 1914),
Document: UK Government, "Defence of the Realm Consolidation Act" (November 27, 1914),
Documents: U.S. Government, "Espionage Act" (1917) and "Sedition Act" (1918),
Comradery,
Document: Selections from the Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas (1914-1918),
Document: Siegfried Sassoon, Two Poems Written at Craiglockhart War Hospital, "Sick Leave" and "Banishment" (1918),
Document: Ernst Jünger, Storm of Steel (1920),
Survival: Masculinity and Manliness,
Document: Sophus Lange, Letters (1914-1915), Document: Franz Kreisler, Four Weeks in the Trenches (1915),
Document: Ernst Jünger, Storm of Steel (1920), Suggested Readings,
3 Poetry of the First World War: Rupert Brooke, "The Soldier"; John McCrae, "In Flanders Field"; Siegfried Sassoon, "The Redeemer"; Wilfred Owen, "Dolce et Decorum Est," 109
Synopses of the Poems,
Historical Background of the Poems: "Oh, What a Literary War": Writers and the Western Front in the First World War,
About the Poets,
Why We Read These Poems,
Historical Explorations of the Poems,
Documenting the Poems,
Recruitment and Propaganda,
Document: Rupert Brooke, "Peace" (1915),
Document: UK Government, Bryce Committee Report on "Alleged German Outrages" (1915), Document: UK Government, "Women of Britain" Recruitment Poster (1915),
Document: German Government, "The Better Part of Valor" Leaflet (1918),
Objection to War and Disillusionment,
Document: German Government, "Secret Decree of the Prussian Ministry of War of November 7, 1915, on Intensified Measures to Suppress the Bourgeois-Pacifist Anti-War Movement" (November 7, 1915),
Document: Bertrand Russell, Justice in War-Time (1916),
Document: Selections from the Diary of Arthur Graeme West (1916),
Document: Lord Lansdowne, "Letter to the Editor of the Daily Telegraph" (November 23, 1917),
Moral Obligation of the Writer,
Document: Rudyard Kipling, "As They Tested Our Fathers" (September 8, 1914),
Document: George Bernard Shaw, "Common Sense about the War" (November 14, 1914),
Document: Siegfried Sassoon, "Finished with the War: A Soldier's Declaration" (1917),
Documents: Siegfried Sassoon, "Introduction" and Wilfred Owen, "Preface" in Poems of Wilfred Owen (1920),
Wilfred Owen, "Preface" (1920),
Documents: Rudyard Kipling, Three Two-Line Poems from "Epitaphs of War," in The Years Between (1919) and Siegfried Sassoon, "On Passing the New Menin Gate" (1928),
Siegfried Sassoon, "On Passing the Menin Gate" (1928),
Suggested Readings,
4 A Farewell to Arms (Ernest Hemingway, 1929),
Synopsis of A Farewell to Arms,
Historical Background of A Farewell to Arms : The Italo-Austrian Front in the First World War,
About Ernest Hemingway,
Why We Read A Farewell to Arms,
Historical Explorations of A Farewell to Arms, 181
Documenting A Farewell to Arms,
Volunteers,
Ambulance Drivers,
Document: Henry Sheahan (aka Henry Beston), A Volunteer Poilu (1916),
Document: G.M. Trevelyan, Scenes from Italy's War (1919),
Nurses,
Document: Enid Bagnold, Diary without Dates (1918),
Document: Vera Brittain, Testament ofYouth (1933),
Women at War,
Document: Selections from the Diary of Isabelle Rimbaud (1914),
Document: Laura de Gozdawa Turczynowicz, When the Prussians Came to Poland (1916),
Document: Rebecca West, "Women of England" (1916),
Document: Vera Brittain, Testament ofYouth (1933),
Shell Shock,
Document: Thomas Salmon, M.D., Care and Treatment of Mental Disorders and War Neuroses ("Shell Shock") in the British Army (1917),
Document: Siegfried Sassoon, "Repression of War Experience" (1918),
Document: W.H.R. Rivers, M.D., "Repression of War Experience" (1918),
Document: Lewis Yealland, M.D., Hysterical Disorders of Warfare (1918),
Suggested Readings,
Index,
About the Author :
Eugene Edward Beiriger is associate professor of history and distinguished honors professor at DePaul University.
