The poetry of the First World War has come to dominate our understanding of its literature, while genres such as the short story, which are just as vital to the literary heritage of the era, have largely been neglected. In this study, Ann-Marie Einhaus challenges deeply embedded cultural conceptions about the literature of the First World War using a corpus of several hundred short stories that, until now, have not undergone any systematic critical analysis. From early wartime stories to late twentieth-century narratives – and spanning a wide spectrum of literary styles and movements – Einhaus’s work reveals a range of responses to the war through fiction, from pacifism to militarism. Going beyond the household names of Owen, Sassoon and Graves, Einhaus offers scholars and students unprecedented access to new frontiers in twentieth-century literary studies.
Editorial Reviews
Review
‘Ann-Marie Einhaus’s book, The Short Story and the First World War, is an outstanding contribution to discussions of the literature of the Great War of 1914–1918. It also makes an important contribution to our understanding of the development of the British short story in the early twentieth century. Einhaus’s study is marked by innovative research, theoretical pertinence, clarity of exposition, and a subtle and appropriate approach to her material. It is a book that scholars concerned with the Great War and those interested in short fiction will refer to frequently and for a considerable time to come.’ David Malcolm, Cercles (cercles.com/review/reviews)
‘Einhaus’s meticulous study undercuts the myth and rounds out history … Highly recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty.’ M. W. Cox, Choice
Book Description
Covering a range of topics, settings and styles, the book offers the first comprehensive study of short fiction from the First World War.
About the Author
Ann-Marie Einhaus is Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Literature in the Department of Humanities at Northumbria University. She is the co-editor of The Penguin Book of First World War Stories (2007) and has published articles on First World War writing, modernism and canonization in journals such as Literature and History, Modernist Cultures, and Zeitschrift für Anglistik und Amerikanistik.
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