Writing the Great War

From the Treaty of Versailles to the 2018 centenary and beyond, the history of the First World War has been continually written and rewritten, studied and contested, producing a rich historiography shaped by the social and cultural circumstances of its creation. Writing the Great War provides a groundbreaking survey of this vast body of work, assembling contributions on a variety of national and regional historiographies from some of the most prominent scholars in the field. By analyzing perceptions of the war in contexts ranging from Nazi Germany to India’s struggle for independence, this is an illuminating collective study of the complex interplay of memory and history.

Christoph Cornelissen is Professor of Contemporary History at Goethe University Frankfurt.

Arndt Weinrich is DAAD Lecturer in History at Sorbonne University.

“Each chapter offers a fresh account of complex national commemorative cultures and historiography and is packed with arresting insights. Coming after the wave of centenary commemorations, this volume is an essential addition to the literature and will stimulate further research on World War I.” • William Mulligan, University College Dublin

“The aim of this volume is as ambitious as it is commendable: to describe and analyze collective memories and historiographies of the Great War in a variety of geographical contexts. Even for scholars who have long studied World War I, it offers fascinating material” • Gerhard Hirschfeld, University of Stuttgart

“Writing the Great War covers the historiography of the war both in depth and in breadth. The contributors are leading scholars who provide enlightening insights into politics, memory, and historiography. Specialists will find much to spark their interests and students will find it a useful guide to a complex field.” • Michael S. Neiberg, author of Dance of the Furies: Europe and the Outbreak of World War I