Publishers, Readers and the Great War: Literature and Memory since 1918

Description

Literature is at the heart of popular understandings of the First World War in Britain, and has perpetuated a popular memory of the conflict centred on disillusionment, horror and futility. This book examines how and why literature has had this impact, exploring the role played by authors, publishers and readers in constructing the memory of the war since 1918. It demonstrates that publishers were as influential as authors in shaping perceptions of the conflict, and it provides a detailed analysis of critical and popular responses to war books, tracing the evolution of readers' attitudes to the war between 1918 and 2014. By exploring the cultural legacy of the war from these two previously overlooked perspectives, Vincent Trott offers fresh insights regarding the emergence of a collective memory of the First World War in Britain. Drawing on a broad range of primary source material, including publishers' correspondence, dust jackets, adverts, book reviews and diary entries, and examining canonical authors such as Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon and Vera Brittain alongside long-forgotten texts and more recent autobiographical works by Harry Patch and Henry Allingham, Publishers, Readers and the Great War provides a rich and nuanced analysis of the climate within which First World War literature was written, published and received since 1918.

Vincent Trott is Lecturer in Modern History at the Open University, UK. He completed a collaborative doctorate in History with the Open University and the British Library in 2014.

Trott's reflections on the problematic nature of collaboratively written memoirs are interesting and pertinent ... The volume offers an eminently readable, wide-ranging account of the publication and reception history of key First World War texts and authors ... In light of the book's broad temporal scope, its usefulness for timestrapped students and researchers is heightened by the fact that each chapter also works as a stand-alone essay. * Journal of the English Association * Trott offers a much needed perspective on the evolution of the First World War in British cultural memory ... Rather than simply catalogue what publishers produced and what readers chose to read, Trott compellingly puts a human face to both sides ... Publishers, Readers and the Great War conveys an important aspect of the literary legacy of British cultural memory of the First World War. * Journal of Military History * This is an excellent book. Well written, insightful, and drawing on a wonderful range of hitherto unused material, it elucidates the interaction between writers, publishers and readers that shaped representations of the First World War. Vincent Trott's book is a significant contribution to the field, and should be a 'must-read' for those interested in the remembrance of the war and its place in British popular culture. * Daniel Todman, Senior Lecturer, Queen Mary, University of London, UK * Vincent Trott's book is a major contribution to the enduring debate about how British war literature over the past century has shaped our collective memory of the Great War. His powerful account of the filtering of First World War memories through the Second World War and later experiences goes beyond earlier treatments in new and compelling ways. * Jay Winter, Charles J. Stille Professor of History Emeritus, Yale University, USA *