Retrospective
51 years of The Great War and Modern Memory.
Since 1975, Paul Fussell’s classic The Great War and Modern Memory has shaped how people view the Great War and its literature. It is arguably the work of literary criticism that has most affected the discipline of history. Enjoy these featured reflections on the book and its impact.
The Power and the Poetry
Elizabeth Stice reflects on the power and persistence of Fussell’s book and the ways in which it illuminates and obscures the war.
Remembrance and the Ineffable: On Fussell's “Great War and Modern Memory”
Professor William Skiles reflects on how Fussell demonstrates the importance of literature in processing and communicating the wartime experience.
Little green army men
Airman Aaron Mejias reflects on his first encounter with Fussell’s classic and the ways it changed his view of history.
The First Word
Professor Carol Engelhardt Herringer reflects on how The Great War and Modern Memory started her fascination with the First World War and shaped the historical field.
Writing War: On the Legacy of Paul Fussell’s “The Great War and Modern Memory”
Historian Andrew Jarboe reflects on Paul Fussell’s influence on his own work and the field of World War I history.