The Unquiet Western Front Britain's Role in Literature and History [Paperback]

This 2002 book is a study of myth and controversy in Britain's role in the First World War.Britain's role in the First World War has been portrayed mainly through literature, films and plays, in most cases with a marked un-historical, anti-war spirit. As a result deeply-rooted myths have become dominant. Historians have either endorsed them, or have written narrowly for other specialists. Now, thanks to the opening of the official archives and a more objective approach, the myths are being challenged. This book follows the controversy from 1918 to the present, and concludes that historians are at last permitting the War to be placed in proper perspective.Britain's role in the First World War has been portrayed mainly through literature, films and plays, in most cases with a marked un-historical, anti-war spirit. As a result deeply-rooted myths have become dominant. Historians have either endorsed them, or have written narrowly for other specialists. Now, thanks to the opening of the official archives and a more objective approach, the myths are being challenged. This book follows the controversy from 1918 to the present, and concludes that historians are at last permitting the War to be placed in proper perspective.Britain's role in the First World War has been portrayed through literature, films and plays with a marked un-historical, anti-war spirit. Deeply-rooted myths have thus become dominant and historians have either endorsed them, or have written narrowly for other specialists. As a result of the opening of official military archives and more objective study, these portrayals are now being challenged. This book traces the controversy from 1918 to the present, concluding that historians are finally permitting World War I to be placed in a more accurate perspective.Preface and acknowledgements; 1. The necessary war, 191418; 2. Goodbye to all that, 191933; 3. Donkeys and Flanders mud: the war rediscovered in the 1960s; 4. Thinking the unthinkable: the first wolã7