The Great War Reader (C. A. Brannen)

The literature of World War I captures the mayhem and spectacle of its time, when an entire generation found itself in the mouth of a juggernaut. Facing chaos, some writers also developed a literature of hope, courage, devotion, and humanity. Whether despairing or hopeful, the writing on the Great War is powerfully evocative. The Great War Reader gives many nearly forgotten writers a new audience at a most appropriate time. Memoirists, short story writers, novelists, poets, playwrights, and historians speak here again of a time that witnessed the death of the pastoral tones of the nineteenth century and the birth of the modern world. The selections here are divided into five categories: historical writings, some objectifying, some personalizing the war; letters and diaries that reflect intimate reactions to artillery barrages and quieter, saner moments; memoirs; poetry; and a range of fiction from the romantic to the bitterly cynical. Some of the selections include: -- Testament of Youth, Vera Brittain -- Undertones of War, Edmund Blunden -- The Storm of Steel, Ernst Junger -- The Diary of an Officer, Arthur Graeme West -- and poetry by Isaac Rosenberg, Georg Trakl, and Giuseppe Ungaretti Editor James R. Hannah also includes author biographies and articles from the trench newspaper, The Wipers Times, The Great War Reader is a testament to men's and women's ability to produce art of lasting value even under extreme duress.