How they mourned

[George Armstrong Custer]

Any suggestions for reading on how Britons, as a nation and as individuals, came to terms with the losses of the Great War through the first decade after its end? I've read Fussell and Eksteins' books, which touch on some of the themes which relate to the way people coped and associated behaviour which I want to explore further, such as how, during the 1920's, different sections of a grieving society viewed those who had been in political and military command during the war. I'm looking primarily for studies which end about 1930 or so, coinciding with the great flood of war literature which marked the end of the 1920's. I'm interested in references to books or articles or monographs in journals.

ciao,

GAC

[Chris Martin]

Jonathan Vance "Death So Noble: Memory, Meaning, and the First World War" is a well put together book on the subject of the formation of a collective consciousness and memory of the war in the Canadian context.

P. Whitney Lackenbauer's "War, Memory, and the Newfoundland Regiment at Gallipoli," in Newfoundland Studies 15(2) 1999, pp176-214. He gives some discussion on the formation of Newfoundland's collective memory of their war time experience. He borrows from Vance and David Facey-Crowther. Facey Crowther is a Newfoundland historian who has written a number of papers on memory and meaning in the Newfoundland context. Unfortunatly much of what he has written on the subject remains unpublished and is housed at the Center for Newfoundland Studies at Memorial University. If it's an area you feel you'd like to explore in your research I can provide you with the information on his papers. Lackenbauer discusses how Newfounlanders formed their view of the war given that they did not have an "official history" untill 1964, never the less they had established a very strong narrative of the war, some parts true, some highly romanticized, all very influentia when it cam time to write the "official history."

Robert J. Harding "Glorious Tragedy: Newfounland's Cultural Memory of the Attack at Beaumont Hamel, 1916-1925" in Newfoundland and Labrador Studies 21(1) 2006, pp 3-40. Harding covers almost all if not all the points of interest you raised, in his discussion on Newfoundland. He argues that Newfoundlan'd war time experience was "Beaumont Hamel centric" and that one event coloured how Newfoundlanders conceptualized all that came before and after 1 July 1916. He looks at how the event was porteayed to the colony in the weeks following, and how that view was accepted and modified in the publics collective conscious. He is also influenced by the work of David Facey-Crowther. His article is based on his phD and can more than likly be obtained on interlibrary loan should access to the Journal of Newfoundland and Labrador Studies not be posible. The journal is on line and the place the full text of all articles there.

Hope these may be of some use to you.

Chris

[linden]

"Battlefield Tourism : Pilgrimage and the Commemoration of the Great War in Britain , Australia and Canada 1919-1939" by David Lloyd

[swizz]

There are LOTS of books on this topic!

There is a good list if you click on the link for 'Commemoration and remembrance' here: http://www.firstworldwar.bham.ac.uk/bibliography/index.htm

Personally I think the books by Angela Gaffney, Ken Inglis and Jay Winter are good, along with the Vance book on Canada which Chris mentions.

Hope this is useful.

Swizz

[George Armstrong Custer]

Chris, linden and Swizz, thank you all for those suggestions which are a great help in pinpointing areas to start reading from.

ciao,

GAC

[keithfazzani]

These are more modern books but both have good bibliographies The Dead of the Somme - Geoff Dyer and The Memorial to the Missing of the Somme - Gavin Stamp both have extensive reference to the underlying feelings of the nation in the immediate aftermath of the War.

[pietro]

I'm starting to research into how the photography of the time affected both the soldiers' and public's memory of the war. Any of you learned gentlemen have any suggestions for direction in this area?

TIA,

Peter

[Chris Martin]

Pietro,

Again I suggest Jonathan Vance's "Death So Noble." He gives discussion on Textbooks, the technology of images, the War Office Cinematography Committee, Great War Motion Picture Bureau, as well as a number of movies, etc. Thats the only source that I am personally famillar with that may suit your needs but I'm sure others will have more suggestions and sources.

Chris

[pietro]

Thanks Chris,

I'll have a look at it, I'll maybe try to get it on inter library loan.

Regards,

Peter

[swizz]

Pietro

I can't think of anything off the top of my head. You might get some references if you look into the war correspondents / official photographers - or possibly on the press during the war.

Swizz