The Great War and Modern MemoryThe Great War and Modern Memory
Score Classic
What it's about
Paul Fussell, a literary scholar who fought in the Second World War, shows how the First World War shaped the way the modern world thinks and writes. Through the poets and memoirists who fought in it, Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen, Robert Graves and others, he traces how the war's horror gave birth to modern irony.
Why it's worth reading
It won the National Book Award and is on the Modern Library list of the best nonfiction. It's a classic of literary history.
You'll love it if you liked
Goodbye to All That
Testament of Youth: One Woman's Haunting Record of the First World War
The Guns of AugustGood to know
It's literary criticism, so it helps to know some of the war poets.
By the numbers
- Readers68 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics93 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller0 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
On our reserve shelf: it doesn't have enough readers yet for us to rank it alongside the Must-Read 50 pool. We check again every month, and it can still turn up in your 50 once you've read most of our ranked books.
Why it made the list
Reads as
True story, Moving
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Quick answers
Is The Great War and Modern Memory worth reading?
It won the National Book Award and is on the Modern Library list of the best nonfiction. Its Must-Read Score is 80.9 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is The Great War and Modern Memory about?
Paul Fussell, a literary scholar who fought in the Second World War, shows how the First World War shaped the way the modern world thinks and writes. Through the poets and memoirists who fought in it, Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen, Robert Graves and others, he traces how the war's horror gave birth to modern irony.
How long does it take to read The Great War and Modern Memory?
About 11 hours (431 pages), or about 3 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What awards has The Great War and Modern Memory won?
National Book Award (Nonfiction) winner (1976).
What should I read after The Great War and Modern Memory?
If you liked it, try Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves, Testament of Youth: One Woman's Haunting Record of the First World War by Vera Brittain or The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman.