The Great War and Modern Memory
by Paul Fussell · first published 1975
78% recommend11% neutral11% critical
Why HN recommends it
Scholarly yet personal account of how WWI reshaped Western culture, especially its writing and sense of irony; praised as serious history and remarkable prose, suited to readers of war history and literary criticism.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
In this classic work, Paul Fussell illuminates the British experience on the Western Front from 1914 to 1918, focusing primarily on the literary means by which The Great War has been remembered, conventionalized, and mythologized. Drawing on the work of important wartime poets such as David Jones and Wilfred Owen, on the memoirs of Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves, and Edmund Blunden, and on numerous other personal records housed in the Imperial War Museum, this award-winning volume provides an intimate and intensely poetic account of the event that revolutionized the way we see the world. It
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_The Great War and Modern Memory_ by Paul Fussel is a great book about the changes wrought on society at every level by WWI. Both a work of scholarship and a scream from the heart (Fussel lost his best friend in combat during WWII).…
on “How horror changed after WW1” ↗Fussell's Great War and Modern Memory (http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-War-Modern-Memory/dp/0195133...) is one of the great texts explaining WW1, though not perfect. Hugely influential creating the view that WW1 caused a break from Victorian…
on “The Real War 1939-1945, by Paul Fussell (1989)” ↗Just finished The Sleepwalkers about the diplomatic and political maneuvers from about 1900 on. I would strongly recommend Paul Fussell's The Great War and Modern Memory for reflections on the writing that came out of and around the war.
on “The Strange and Curious Tale of the Last True Hermit” ↗Might I suggest Paul Fussell's The Great War and Modern Memory to those interested in (mostly English) writing about WW I?
on “Robert Graves: The Reluctant First World War Poet” ↗…his high prole category, and everything suddenly seemed to make more sense, including the very belief that we thought we were middle class. (Anyone hungry for more Fussell should read his classic: "The Great War and Modern Memory", about WWI and its place in 20th century Western society and literature. His book of essays "The Boy Scout Handbook and other Observations" is also great. It includes one about his personal experiences…
on “Book Review: Fussell on Class” ↗For a handy view of the literature generally, Paul Fussell's The Great War and Modern Memory is worth a look.
on “Acoup: The Trench Stalemate” ↗…comment by Tolkien: > My Sam Gamgee is indeed a reflexion of the English soldier, of the privates and batmen I knew in the 1914 war, and recognized as so far superior to myself Paul Fussell in “The Great War and Modern Memory” (which I highly recommend) tied comments like these to the change in mentality of the (primarily) English upper classes and gentry. Just living and working closely with working and agrarian class soldiers…
on “The Moral Economy of the Shire” ↗Author of The Great War and Modern Memory [1], an amazing history. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_War_and_Modern_Memor...
on “My War (1982)” ↗You're right, The Great War and Modern Memory is not only an amazing history but it's also a remarkable bit of writing in its own right. It's one of those exceptional books on war and the history of warfare and up there with the likes of John Keegan's…
on “My War (1982)” ↗…satiric/critical tone, or didn't care and thought it to be informative enough regardless. Anyway, I pilfered a copy and read it, mostly because I was already familiar with Fussel from his classic work _The Great War And Modern Memory_, about the damaging long-term psycho-social effects of WWI. I don't think the underlying anger and disdain of _Class_ can be readily perceived unless you've read that book. I had also just read Douglas…
on “Book Review: Fussell on Class” ↗"The Great War and Modern Memory" is an excellent book.
on “Paul Fussell, Literary Scholar and Critic, Is Dead at 88” ↗How very odd. I think that I've read 16 of the Board's 100; some I think great, e.g. Yeats's _Autobiographies_. Others, well, Fussell's _The Great War and Modern Memory_ is a fine book, but top 100? Dangerfield is fine, but again, top 100? Also, are we to believe that a quorum of the board had worked its way through _Principia Mathematica_? In such cases my own suspicion…
on “Random House's 100 Best Nonfiction Books: A Lesson on Internet Polls” ↗> The author seems to have little understanding of how much this was true of World War 1... Fussell wrote _The Great War and Modern Memory_, so I'd say he was pretty well-versed on how WW1 was portrayed.
on “The Real War 1939-1945 (1989)” ↗