War and Memory in the Twentieth Century

by Martin Evans (Editor), Kenneth Lunn (Editor)

Overview

This unique and absorbing book looks at the ways in which images and memories of war have emerged and endured in the twentieth century. Through a number of studies by the leading experts in the field, ranging from the construction of memorials through to film and personal testimonies, the complex identities of war memories and their social, cultural and political significances are thoroughly discussed. War and Memory in the Twentieth Century explores differing ways in which memories of conflicts are constructed from a multitude of perspectives and representations, including: - the written and spoken word - cinematic and film images - photography - monuments and memorials - museums - rituals and public celebration The book also discusses how memories of war differ between nations and individuals, and between proximity and distance in time. Wide-ranging and original, individual essays cover topics such as Anne Frank, British war crimes, the Gulf War in British popular culture, German memory and identity, and popular film. This truly interdisciplinary and wide-ranging book will be of interest to the general reader as well as students and academics of history, war and society, political science, cultural studies and media studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781859731994
Publisher:	Berg Publishers
Publication date:	09/01/1997
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

Martin Evans University of Portsmouth Kenneth Lunn University of Portsmouth

Table of Contents

Martin Evans & Kenneth Lunn, Introduction — HOLOCAUST AND WAR CRIMES TRIALS — Tony Kushner, Anne Frank and the Liberal Imagination — David Cesarani, Lacking in Conviction: British War Crimes Policy and National Memory of the Second World War — ORAL TESTIMONIES — Bernice Archer, A Low-Key Affair: Memories of Internment in the Far East during World War Two — Jane Leonard, Facing the 'Finger of Scorn': Veterans' Memories of Ireland after the Great War — Martin Evans, 'Algeria and Vietnam': Two Cases of Traumatised War Veterans — MUSEUMS — Lucy Noakes, Making Histories: Exploring the Blitz in London Museums in the 1990's — Margaretta Joly, Love Letters vs. Letters Carved in Stone: Gender, Memory and the 'Forces Sweethearts' Exhibition — MONUMENTS — Catherine Moriarty, Private Grief and Public Remembrance: British First World War Memorials — Bill Kidd, Memory and Commemoration of War in Lorraine, 1909-79 — FILM AND PHOTOGRAPHY — Sue Harper, Popular Film, Popular Memory: the Case of the Second World War — POPULAR MEMORY — Martin Shaw, Past Wars and Present Conflict: From the Second World War — Jeffrey Walsh, The Gulf War in British Popular Culture — Barry Doyle, Religion, Politics and Remembrance: a Free Church Community and its Great War Dead — Gerd Knischewski, German Memory and Identity

Editorial Reviews

"Books like 'War and Memory', which take history seriously but do not leave it to the historians, are an important step forward." --Christopher Hill, Modern and Contemporary France

"An absorbing look at the way in which images and memories of war have emerged and endured during this century . . .Instructive, informative and undoubtedly sad. A thought-provoking work." --Ships Telegraph

"A welcome addition to the growing number of books which consider the wider social, cultural and political implications of warfare in the twentieth century." --Stephen Croad, Independent Member of the National War Memorials Inventory Committee

"The collection is to be commended for the high quality of its contribution which provide persuasive evidence of how the memory of past conflict infiltrates and colours present culture. [It] deserves to become an edited collection to which scholars and students turn for well balanced and stimulating essays on the continuing dialogue between history and memory in contemporary Western culture." --Journal of Area Studies

From the Publisher

The collection is to be commended for the high quality of its contribution which provide persuasive evidence of how the memory of past conflict infiltrates and colours present culture. [It] deserves to become an edited collection to which scholars and students turn for well balanced and stimulating essays on the continuing dialogue between history and memory in contemporary Western culture.

Journal of Area Studies

A welcome addition to the growing number of books which consider the wider social, cultural and political implications of warfare in the twentieth century.

Independent Member of the National War Memorials I Stephen Croad

An absorbing look at the way in which images and memories of war have emerged and endured during this century . . .Instructive, informative and undoubtedly sad. A thought-provoking work.

Ships Telegraph

Books like 'War and Memory', which take history seriously but do not leave it to the historians, are an important step forward.

Modern and Contemporary France Christopher Hill