Poetry and Myths of the Great War by Stephen Martin - 9781783463862

The First World War has obsessed twetieth-century society as the conflict which marked a watershed in European history and which brought home to that continent the full horror of modern, industrialised war. It is also the only war where literature played a major part in forming society's perception of it, so much so that the phrase 'war poets' is now taken to mean the poets of the First World War. Poetry and Myths of the Great War examines the various myths that have grown up around the war. It explores the historical and sociological myths of the Edwardian Summer, the supposedly banal nature poetry of the pre-war Georgian poets and the image of the British public schools as factories for unthinking cannon-fodder. It analyses the top command of the British Army and the idea that the British were 'lions led by donkeys'. Using contemporary material, it examines the life, mood and morale of junior officers and private soldiers. It offers a partial revaluation of the work of the most fam.