Since the Armistice, a vast literature has been produced on the First World War and its repercussions. Two leading historians from the United States and France have produced a fully comparative analysis of the ways in which this history has been written and interpreted. The book identifies three generations of historians, literary scholars, film directors and writers who have commented upon the war. Through a thematic structure, it assesses not only diplomatic and military studies but also the social and cultural interpretations of the Great War as seen primarily through the eyes of French, German and British writers. It provides a fascinating case study of the practice of history in the twentieth century and of the enduring importance of the national lens in shaping historical narrative. This interesting study will prove invaluable reading to scholars and students in history, war studies, European history and international relations.
• A fully comparative analysis of the writing of the history of the First World War • Written together by a French and an American historian, both leading figures of the social and cultural history of the First World War • This study is interdisciplinary in its approach, addressing political, military, economic, social, and cultural historiographies
Contents
Preface; Introduction; 1. Three historiographical configurations; 2. Politicians and diplomats: why war and for what aims?; 3. Generals and ministers: who commanded and how?; 4. Soldiers: how did they wage war?; 5. Businessmen, industrialists and bankers: how was the economic war waged?; 6. Workers: did war prevent or provoke revolution?; 7. Civilians: how did they make war and survive it?; 8. Agents of memory: how did people live between remembrance and forgetting?; 9. The Great War in history; Bibliography; Index.
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