Another must-read for anyone interested in great literature. From the sublime to the mundane, Fussell is most fascinating. This can be a fairly quick read -- perhaps a long weekend for most, but then you will find yourself returning to re-read certain chapters, and it will definitely end up on your desk as a reference book. I was most pleased to see many references to the Bloomsbury Group, but I was surprised that there was no mention of JRR Tolkien whose The Lord of the Rings, I believe, had its genesis in the trenches of WWI.

This book is some 25 years old, but still shares with Edward Said's "Orientalism" the prize for best literary criticism. Unlike Said's book, however, Fussell's analysis has never been attacked or questioned; it has only gained in stature over the years. It is, quite simply, a beautiful book and was rightly recognized when it first appeared as an instant classic. It was written at a time when historians were just beginning to crawl around old battlefields looking for new ways to tell the story of war. Fussell got down and dirty in the trenches of France and came back with a story of how the gruesome battles of WWI shaped a generation of English writers and artists. There is not much new that can be said about this superb book, except that there has been no better book written since its publication by an American on literature.

This book is some 25 years old, but still shares with Edward Said's "Orientalism" the prize for best literary criticism. Unlike Said's book, however, Fussell's analysis has never been attacked or questioned; it has only gained in stature over the years. It is, quite simply, a beautiful book and became, of course, an instant classic. It was written at a time when historians were just beginning to crawl around old battlefields looking for new ways to tell the story of war. Fussell got down and dirty in the trenches of France and came back with a story of how the gruesome battles of WWI shaped a generation of English writers and artists. There is not much new that can be said about this superb book, except that there has been no better book written since its publication by an American on literature.

One must be a drooling English major to read, much less, enjoy this book.
It has nothing to do with reality.

On one level, Fussell writes about World War I, and his unsparing depiction of the industrialized killing in this first "modern" war will acquaint readers with a war that now seems very distant. On the second level, he shows how British World War I soldiers viewed their experience through the literary and popular culture they brought to the trenches--through ideas of the pastoral, of epic sacrifice, of manly strength and beauty. Fussell brilliantly links "The Oxford Book of English Verse" and the battlefields of France. His discussion of how the poppy came to be a symbol of this war is alone worth the price of the book. Finally, and most interestingly, there is Fussell's idea that this particular past is not distant at all. He not only points out how accounts of the second World War were influenced by accounts of the first, but suggests how some of the ways we currently think about war are shaped by the Great War. One wonders, in the midst of it, what myths of our own we bring to our conceptions of the War On Terror.

This classic by Paul Fussell should be required reading on most college campuses. His prose is impeccable. I have read every Fussell book I can get my hands on. He is one of the best.

This is really a rather profound book. Superficially labelled a 'literary criticism' it is more an analysis of the way in which people remember traumatic experience.

In this instance we are dealing with men-at-war--World War One, predominantly (with an occasional study of its influence on World War II participants' subsequent memories) and the ways in which a tremendous number of authors broke away from the traditional self-mythologizing so many previous wars' histories tended to evoke. It was here that people started to speak in public critically of the decisions of their superiors, both in the military and in government. This book attempts to record the ways in which aggrandizement was altered, made into individually heroic scenes of defiance or love instead of an increasingly tired defense of God and Kingdom.

What is really being explored is the ways in which the modern world has changed from a generally considered 'glorious past' into a disillusioned report from the trenches. This idea transcends war and imposes itself upon everyday life. This is an important notion to consider seriously as the present glooms on.

A very important book disguised as something not many people would think about reading.

A review of the book production, not the contents.

I would not recommend the 25th Anniversary Hardback Edition, simply on account of poor production values:

1. It has a perfect, not a stitched binding, so it doesn't open out flat but snaps back together like a theatre seat.

2. The type is actually difficult to read because the ink used is shiny and the typeface is not crisp. It looks to me like the wrong ink and paper were used - they don't work together.

I have given 5 stars so as not to interfere with the rating of the book itself, which is of course superb; but I would give this particular edition a miss.

Picking up this book I was a little naive in my thinking. I assumed that it would be an easy read, a comparative study on the effect of Great War Authors and Writings had on Modern Literature. Yet, this book was a continuous struggle, not for its dullness but by the vast amount of information that the author is able to throw at the reader. The author is without a doubt an expert on this time periods literature, his ability to find comparisons with the Modern world for me was astounding. The highest praise perhaps is that this is the kind of book that I would want to write but never could. This book is not for the lighthearted, it is better to have a knowledge of literature that has come out of the Great War but is not required. This is a book with a heart and soul, shining light on generation that is fading into the past.

Paul Fussell draws an exceedingly thin line between history and literary criticism in his telling how the Great War will endure modern memory from the British perspective. Fussell analyzes a vast array of poetry, memoirs, and prose-written both during and after the war-to convey the experiences and emotions of British officers and men who took part in such horrible battles as: the Somme, Ypres, and Passchendaele. Fussell illustrates how the basic elements of literature such as irony, metaphor, and myth appear throughout the literary works of Thomas Hardy, Seigfried Sassoon and Robert Graves to name a few. Fussell is not out to claim that truth is stranger than fiction, however. On the contrary, he argues that fiction closely parallels truth and, it is these literary devises that have ingrained the memory of the Great War into our consciousness. Many believe that the Great War sparked the advent of modernism, and that the lives of a whole generation of youth that came of age during that war was forever changed. Fussell attempts to prove that nowhere is this more apparent than in the British literature published in the years following World War I. Fussell chose primarily British literature for his study. This is not merely an attempt to narrow the focus of his study, but rather an Anglophilic obsession for the British classical literary tradition at the expense of other combatants; the French, Germans, and to a lesser degree, the Americans. Fussell levels a number of harsh criticisms at American writers, particularly Earnest Hemingway, claiming they existed in a literary vacuum "devoid of a Chaucer, a Spencer, a Shakespeare." Fussell points out that, just prior to World War I, England had undergone a literary surge that had transcended existing class structures. Though organized reading groups at Workman's institutes and the Home Reading Union those of modest origins, it was hoped, would rise in class standing. According to Fussell, no effort was spared. Devouring the best the British had to offer, the author contends that the British population as a whole became "not merely literate but vigorously literary." Unfortunately, Fussell fails to mention the inclusion of women in this literary upsurge as well as barely mentioning women writers, if at all. Fussell analyzes and interprets the literature of the Great War with surgical precision. The author gives some fine examples of wartime poetry, especially the works of Seigfried Sassoon and Robert Graves. Fussell plays particular attention to the element of irony, its construction of themes and its influence on future generations of wartime writers. As Fussell points out, "the Great War was more ironic than any other in that its beginnings were more innocent." The British went to war in a gentlemanly and sporting manner even going so far as to kick a football as they advanced towards the enemy trenches. Fussell emphasizes the impact these seemingly insignificant events fuelled by irony have on one's memory, however, fails to present any evidence other than the literature itself. The point is that Fussell's strength lies in literary theory, not history. All too often, the author engages in broad generalizations when he steps out of his area of expertise (literary criticism). Yet this is one of the first works to apply literary criticism to an historical even, thus it enjoys classic status.

Another excellent book on the top 100 list. I think that I have figured out that some of the merit to a book being included on the list is whether it provides a portal to other literature worth reading. This book certainly does that and I now have several more books on my to-be-read list. As others have said, this book details the effect the infantry of the Great War had on our literature, world viewpoint, and psyche. The two criticisms I have are that he over-uses the label "irony" and his classification of "homoerotic". I have come to the conclusion that any contrast is 'ironic' to Fussel; thus, black would be ironic to white. I do not believe that is the case, or if it is, then 'irony' is so broad a category, it is has become meaningless and we should use more particular terms to communicate. Also, while I have no doubt that 'homoeroticism' and 'homosexuality' exist, Fussel quotes so many passages that merely show sentimentality of a man to another man that, I think it unfair to say it is 'homoerotic'. Certainly, men can be friends and have developed a depth of feeling for each other through a common traumatic experience that it does not need to be classified as 'homoerotic'. Or, if it does, like 'irony' the term has become so broad to emcompass such a large spectrum of emotions and feelings that it too has become meaningless.

A book relevant to the current situation of the War on Terrorism.

Fussell's focus is the literary context of the British trench experience of WW1. Contending, as he well illustrates, that for the British WW1 was an extremely literary war. In the trenches young men were reading books, writing poetry, sending letters home, subscribing to magazines, and for those who were not slaughtered, beginning careers as writers... such as with Robert Graves.

Fussell starts out with Thomas Hardy and ends off with Thomas Pynchon, Norman Mailer, and even connects Alan Ginsberg's Howl to the Great War literary tradition. Along the way he explores a panoply of authors whereby the terribly horrid war was imagined within a context of the British literary tradition (Chaucer, Shakespeare, King Arthur etc.), and it becomes evident that the war may have been prolonged, and not sooner negotiated to a close, as a result of the elaboration of heroic story.

The summer of 1972 Fussell spent in the British War Museum in a secluded room going through boxes of troop correspondence. There is an interesting emphasis on the "language" of war, the words used to describe bodies blown about into indistinguishable lumps of flesh sort of thing.

War is not an imaginable event, and yet we as conscious humans need to give war a face that we can live with... and in some cases be willing to die for. I find the book relevent to now in respect of considering how the War on Terrorism is envisioned within the American literary tradition (Bush knows his Huck Finn). The metaphors, the words, the use of past examples to describe war derive from our literary and historical context.

Keegan does a better job of explaining the "what" of war and his volume on WW I is superb. But ever since I first heard of Pickett's charge, I always wondered what why the soldiers would so willingly march to their deaths. This volume explores that issue through the literature of the period. It is a densely constructed book filled with literary criticism and quotations of long forgotten poetry and fiction. Unless you are familiar with the language of literary criticism written for an academic audience -- you WILL be consulting a dictionary quite often just to grasp the meaning of a paragraph.

In fact, the text is more of a literary criticism of the writings from the period than a social or military history. That's not so bad as the literature reviewed owes its all to the war and the nuances of the literature are important. When the book was written, the author was a professor of English and was making his name as a scholar in the field - not a social historian. Nevertheless, it is a superb mid-point in a study of WW-I.

Given that fifteen of the sixteen previous customer reviews have contained cogent and quite articulate praise for Professor Fussell's book, my praises may seem redundant. However, this is such a brilliant and important book that I am compelled to write about it.
I have been obsessed with The GW&MM since I first read it in 1978, so obsessed that I have read it many times. Each time I read it new ideas and new authors spring out of the text and send me to the library or bookstore. Fussell's prose is captivating, and his scholarship is breathtaking in both breadth and depth. My first reading of The GS&MM was in Belgium during a Sabbatical year in Brussels. Our son was writing a senior ISP on the effect of the German invasion on Belgium, and we went to Ypres as part of the research. We were both overwhelmed by the 105 Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries there, and reading The GW&MM during that period helped to put these beautiful and touching burial grounds into the context of the mud and stink that was the Salient during (and for several years after) 1914-1918.
Prof. Fussell introduced me to Graves (my favorite) and Sassoon and Blunden and David Jones and Wifred Owen and opened the door to these wonderful novelists and poets for a biochemist without much appreciation of British literature.
The GW&MM presents an amazing constellation of knowledge and understanding and compassion for the victims of WW I, and my recommendation of this masterpiece is totally enthusiastic and without reservation.

I have had an interest in the First World War since I saw an 8 hour documentary on public television a few years ago. Trying to decide which book to purchase on the subject, this work caught my eye. A book on the way in which the Great War helped shape the modern world was just what I was looking for. Plus, it was written by Paul Fussell, who I recalled from the famous essay "Thank God for the Atom Bomb." Fussell is one of the most respected historians with a reputation for telling it like it is. Well, this book was a little different than I thought it would be, but did not disappoint.

From this book, I've gained a better understanding about life in the trenches and the general backgrounds of the Great War soldiers (at least a better understanding than would be expected from a spoiled Gen. Xer who would never experience such a watershed event). Fussell explains the trench system and the daily routines very well by including many details a lot of books do not offer. I did not realize the close proximity between the trenches and the civilian populations or how speedy and efficient the mail service was at the front. He gives a nice overview of the time period (what was considered important, etc.) to help the reader understand what ideas shaped the lives of soldiers before the war and how their backgrounds helped them cope and make some sort of sense out of the wretched conditions they faced (i.e. a common interest in pastoral images). "Pilgrim's Progress," for example, was a novel most British soldiers read. In fact, language, in general, was one of the only forms of entertainment at the time, so most soldiers were connected by literature no matter their social class (hard to imagine these days). Fussell also gives a brief history of sky awareness to explain how life in the trenches caused many soldiers to view the wonders above them in a new light.

As a professor of English literature, it is understandable that Fussell concentrated on the works of English soldiers: Siegfried Sassoon, David Jones, Robert Graves, Wilfred Owen, Edmund Blunden, Robert Nichols to name a few (if a reader is interested in other combatants, they may wish to put off buying this book). Fussell is such an expert of this era (not only of literature) that he is able to warn the reader of fictional stories in the "memoirs" and the "autobiographies" he analyzes. Fussell regards Grave's "Goodbye To All That" as fiction (and Graves even admitted as much). Of course, not being historical fact does not diminish the importance of such works. Fussell examines poems and memoirs in a way that helps even readers like me (who have not read any of the works) to recognize the ways they shed light on the Great War. You do not need vast knowledge of the First World War to enjoy this book.

Fussell does touch on "modern memory" (at least from a 1970's perspective). WWII suspicion of the press (those stories of concentration camps can't be THAT bad), Hitler's wartime strategies, words like "lousy", etc. all hearken back to the Great War. But the connection to modern times is not as much of a focus as the title indicates. Understanding the Great War through British literature is what I came away with as the theme of this book.

One of the most remarkable non-fiction works I have ever read. Picking up this book you may think you've got a hold of a historiography of some sort or other. It isn't, but you won't be disappointed.

Paul Fussel has written an excellent literary history of the effects of the Great War on the intelligensia of early twentieth century England. The great writers and poets of the age who fought, sometimes died, in the struggle, wrote their poetry and prose.

Through it Fussel explores the effects of the war not only on the writers but on the society which they came from. The tremendous slaughter (250,000 lost in a few weeks attempting to take the village of Passchendale, over 800,000 in the battle of the Somme), the stupidity of the British leadership ("Lions led by donkeys" said Churchill of the Army) and the ravaged psyches of the survivors.

All this led to the war's impact on the poetry and writing of the survivors. Men like Robert Graves, Siegfried Sassoon, Edward Blunden and others poured their experiences out on paper. Fussel analyzes them and compares them with writers before the Great War and with writers effected by World War II.

In the 25th anniversary edition of this book Fussel reflects that he wishes he'd not relied on older forms of literary criticism. I disagree, while he doesn't use any elements of post-modern criticism in his work, by not using it the work remains timeless.

Works like this are rare. Intelligent and literary, The Great War and Modern Memory really does stand alone. The Modern Library ranked it as one of the best 100 non-fiction works of the twentieth century. They'll get no argument from me.

Our American culture currently values works of scholarship and criticism less than a Big Gulp mainly because most scholars in the humanities have ceased talking to the general public and speak only to one another. This book, published in 1976, is perhaps the last example of what it means to be a humanist in the sense that one seeks an understanding of history, of human culture and failing, rather than using scholarship to justify political cant.

This gulf between scholars and the general culture is one of the results of the Great War, as Fussell reads the calamity. Fussell examines the breakdown of previous ideas of cultures in the context mainly of English poetry, showing the reader how the unprecedented violence and degradation of trench warfare stripped Western Culture bare, destroying Romanaticism, and allowing moderism to rise in its wake.

Fussell examines in depth certain aspects of the experience, for example the chapter titled "Myth, Ritual, and Romance" explores the way soldiers used their cultural understandings to make sense of their experience, or in some ways to control the nearly random destruction affecting them. The discussion on the symbolic value of the number 3 in the Great War is deep and enlightening.

Some may disagree with Fussell's interpretation of the experience of the Great War, however, few have written a book of any type that come close to the intense qualities in GW&MM. It's written with a purgative urgency; Fussell as a former infantryman in WWII must present a voice for his brothers. In this way, you may read GW&MM as a testament that far exceeds the cold and programmatic works that now pass as literary criticism.

Tobias Wolff and I once discussed this book and he said of it "Once you read The Great War and Modern Memory you feel civilized." I could not agree more.

In 1916 on the Western Front, in a single hour, a well-placed single machine gun could slaughter a thousand men rising up out of the trenches, as they did in wave after wave. Hundreds of books have been written about the Great War, and in recent years, there has been renewed, intense interest in what (in my opinion) remains the most significant event of the 20th century. None of these works is better, and few equal Paul Fussell's 1975 THE GREAT WAR AND MODERN MEMORY. This extraordinary, moving book focuses primarily on the letters, diaries, reports, memoirs and fiction of Englishmen who were in the trenches. Residing in the dusty archives of the Imperial War Museum, much of Fussell's source material had not been seen in more than half a century, and most of it had never been seen by historians. There is little in Fussell's book about the causes of World War I (pick any explanation that appeals to you: you may be right), its battles or its politics. Rather it's mostly about what the people involved, from soldier to office worker, thought and felt about the war - then and later. It's about how these thoughts and feelings were reflected in contemporary poetry and literature, and how they continue to resonate across the decades. And, the book also about irony - the irony of trying to "win" a war which could not be won and resulted only slaughter. The irony of honorable, tradition-enslaved generals who mindlessly continued the slaughter in full knowledge (albeit, rarely first hand) of what was occurring. The irony of officers living among rats and decomposing corpses in the trenches, yet able to arrange for the regular delivery of hampers of delicacies from Fortnum & Mason. The inexplicable irony that although wholly and self-evidently pointless, their was simply no way to stop the killing.