Literature of the First World War
Literature of the First World War
On 28th July 1914 the lights went out all over Europe. The legacy of the horrors of trench warfare have left us with some of the most powerful and haunting pieces of literature – ensuring that we never forget.
On 28th July 1914 the lights went out all over Europe. The legacy of the horrors of trench warfare have left us with some of the most powerful and haunting pieces of literature – ensuring that we never forget.
The first instalment of Vera Brittain’s memoirs describes the impact of the war on the lives of women and the middle-class population. A classic of feminist literature.
An autobiography by Robert Graves, recalling his experiences of trench warfare and the tragic incompetence of the Battle of Loos.
A 1993 bestseller in which a young Englishman has an affair with a married French woman and then experiences the unprecedented horrors of life and death in the trenches.
Which war poet used his poetry to both describe the horrors of the trenches, and satirise the patriotic pretensions of those who, in his view, were responsible for a jingoism-fuelled war?
Which Canadian wrote this in 1915,
‘We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.’
Who wrote this in 1914,
‘Life, to be sure,
Is nothing much to lose,
But young men think it is,
And we were young.’
A novel by Erich Maria Remarque published 10 years after the end of WW1. It describes German soldiers' physical and mental stress during the war, and the detachment from civilian life upon returning home.
Rebecca Wests’ debut novel in which the homecoming of the shell shocked Captain Baldry is seen from the perspective of his cousin, Jenny.
Michael Morpurgo’s heart breaking young adults’ novel in which Tommo looks back on his life from the trenches. The novel underlines the senselessness of war and the injustice of soldiers who faced the firing squad.
The first of a trilogy by Pat Barker and inspired by her grandfather’s experiences, this novel explores the treatment of British army officers suffering from shell shock.
Written by Jaroslav Hašek, this is the story of a Czech soldier, drunkard, malingerer, oaf and possible genius. His misadventures during the war is one of the most subversive satires on war ever written.
Ford Madox Ford’s novel first printed in 1924. It follows Christopher Tietjens, as his comfortable life is shattered by his wife’s infidelities and then the mud and destruction of the trenches.
A theatrical chronicle of the First World War, told through songs and documents of the period. First performed by Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, London in 1963.
Ben Elton’s 2012 novel explores the blurred lines between legally-sanctioned and illegal murder in a time and place where the truth is hard to find.
Michael Morpurgo’s classic novel tells of the horrors of the war seen from both sides of No Man’s Land through non-human eyes.
This semi-autobiographical novel is set during the Italian campaign of WW1 and tells of the love between an American ambulance and an English nurse. Set against the horrors of the battlefield it has earned the reputation as the best American novel of WW1.
The famous trench magazine published by British soldiers fighting in the Ypres Salient, beginning in 1916 until the end of the war.
Wilfred Owen’s most famous poem is Dulce Et Decorum Est, and ends with the words ‘The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori.’ What is the (approximate) English translation of this?
Who wrote these moving lines in his poem The Soldier,
‘If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England.’
Who wrote the heart breaking poem My Son Jack in 1915 after his 18 year old son was killed at the Battle of Loos?