Fiction based on World War I
Encyclopedia
World War I
was never quite so fertile a topic as World War II
for American fiction, but there were nevertheless a large number of fictional works created about it in Europe, Canada, and Australia. Many war novel
s, however, have fallen out of print since their original publications.
of the 1920s featured bitter veteran protagonists. The horror novels
of H. P. Lovecraft
after the war showed a new sense of nihilism and despair in the face of an uncaring, chaotic cosmos, very unlike his more conventional horror before the war.
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
was never quite so fertile a topic as World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
for American fiction, but there were nevertheless a large number of fictional works created about it in Europe, Canada, and Australia. Many war novel
War novel
A war novel is a novel in which the primary action takes place in a field of armed combat, or in a domestic setting where the characters are preoccupied with the preparations for, or recovery from, war...
s, however, have fallen out of print since their original publications.
By participants
- All Quiet on the Western FrontAll Quiet on the Western FrontAll Quiet on the Western Front is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental stress during the war, and the detachment from civilian life felt by many of these soldiers upon returning home from the front.The...
and The Road BackThe Road BackThe Road Back is a novel by German author Erich Maria Remarque. The novel was first serialized in the German newspaper Vossische Zeitung between December 1930 and January 1931, and published in book form in April 1931. It details the experience of young men in Germany who have returned from the... - The Good Soldier SvejkThe Good Soldier ŠvejkThe Good Soldier Švejk , also spelled Schweik or Schwejk, is the abbreviated title of a unfinished satirical/dark comedy novel by Jaroslav Hašek. It was illustrated by Josef Lada and George Grosz after Hašek's death...
- A Farewell to ArmsA Farewell to ArmsA Farewell to Arms is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Ernest Hemingway concerning events during the Italian campaigns during the First World War. The book, which was first published in 1929, is a first-person account of American Frederic Henry, serving as a Lieutenant in the ambulance...
- The Middle Parts of Fortune (aka Her Privates We - a bowdlerised version) ( by Frederic Manning)
- Death of a HeroDeath of a HeroDeath of a Hero is a World War I novel by Richard Aldington. It was his first novel, written in 1929, and thought to be partly autobiographical.-Plot summary:...
- Ashenden
- A Year on the Plateau (or Sardinian Brigade)
- Parade's EndParade's EndParade's End is a tetralogy by Ford Madox Ford published between 1924 and 1928. It is set mainly in England and on the Western Front in World War I, where Ford served as an officer in the Welch Regiment, a life vividly depicted in the novels.In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Parade's End 57th on...
- Under FireUnder Fire (novel)Under Fire: The Story of a Squad by Henri Barbusse , was one of the first novels about World War I to be published...
- Journey's EndJourney's EndJourney's End is a 1928 drama, the seventh of English playwright R. C. Sherriff. It was first performed at the Apollo Theatre in London by the Incorporated Stage Society on 9 December 1928, starring a young Laurence Olivier, and soon moved to other West End theatres for a two-year run...
- The Spanish Farm trilogy
- Generals Die in BedGenerals Die in BedGenerals Die in Bed is an anti-war novella by the Canadian writer Charles Yale Harrison. Based on the author's own experiences in combat, it tells the story of a young soldier fighting in the trenches of World War I...
- The German Prisoner
- Goodbye to All ThatGoodbye to All ThatGood-Bye to All That, an autobiography by Robert Graves, first appeared in 1929, when the author was thirty-four. "It was my bitter leave-taking of England," he wrote in a prologue to the revised second edition of 1957, "where I had recently broken a good many conventions"...
(memoir) - Storm of SteelStorm of SteelStorm of Steel is the memoir of German officer Ernst Jünger's experiences on the Western Front during the First World War. It was originally printed privately in 1920, making it one of the first personal accounts to be published. The book is a graphic account of trench warfare...
(memoir) - Memoirs of an Infantry OfficerMemoirs of an Infantry OfficerMemoirs of an Infantry Officer is a novel by Siegfried Sassoon, first published in 1930. It is a fictionalised account of Sassoon's own life during and immediately after World War I...
(memoir) - Testament of YouthTestament of YouthTestament of Youth is the first installment, covering 1900–1925, in the memoir of Vera Brittain . It was published in 1933. Brittain's memoir continues with Testament of Experience, published in 1957, and encompassing the years 1925–1950...
(memoir) - Undertones of War (memoir)
- Ghosts have Warm Hands (memoir)
- Across the black waters(novel by- mulkraj anand)
- The Enormous RoomThe Enormous RoomThe Enormous Room is a 1922 autobiographical novel by the poet and novelist E. E. Cummings about his temporary imprisonment in France during World War I....
( by e.e. cummings)
With primary emphasis on the war
- The Major
- Johnny Got His GunJohnny Got His GunJohnny Got His Gun is an anti-war novel written in 1938 by American novelist and screenwriter Dalton Trumboand published by J. B. Lippincott company.-Plot:...
- The Blue MaxThe Blue MaxThe Blue Max is an 1966 British war film about a German fighter pilot on the Western Front during World War I. It was directed by John Guillermin, stars George Peppard, James Mason and Ursula Andress, and features Karl Michael Vogler and Jeremy Kemp. The screenplay was written by David Pursall,...
- The WarsThe WarsThe Wars is a 1977 novel by Timothy Findley telling the story of a young Canadian officer in World War I. First published by Clarke Irwin, it won the Governor General's Award for fiction in 1977.-Plot overview:...
- Billy Bishop Goes to WarBilly Bishop Goes to WarBilly Bishop Goes to War is a Canadian musical, written by John MacLachlan Gray and Eric Peterson. One of the most famous and widely-produced plays in Canadian theatre, it dramatizes the life of Canadian World War I fighter pilot Billy Bishop....
- La guerre, yes sir!
- RegenerationRegeneration (novel)For the 1997 film adaptation of the novel see Regeneration .Regeneration is a prize-winning novel by Pat Barker, first published in 1991. The novel was a Booker Prize nominee and was described by the New York Times Book Review as one of the four best novels of the year in its year of publication...
and the Regeneration TrilogyRegeneration TrilogyThe Regeneration Trilogy is a series of three novels by Pat Barker on the subject of the First World War.* Regeneration * The Eye in the Door * The Ghost Road... - An Ace Minus One
- The GeneralThe GeneralThe General may refer to:Film and television:* The General , a Buster Keaton film* The General , a John Boorman drama about Dublin criminal Martin Cahill...
- Passchendaele (film)Passchendaele (film)Passchendaele is a 2008 Canadian war film from Alliance Films, written, co-produced, directed by, and starring Paul Gross. The film, which was shot in Calgary, Alberta, Fort Macleod, Alberta, and in Belgium, focuses on the experiences of a Canadian soldier, Michael Dunne, at the Battle of...
With the war as context or background
- The Return of the SoldierThe Return of the SoldierThe Return of the Soldier is the debut novel of English novelist Rebecca West first published in 1918. The novel recounts the return of the shell shocked Captain Chris Baldry from the trenches of The First World War from the perspective of his female cousin Jenny...
- Barometer RisingBarometer RisingBarometer Rising is a Canadian novel by Hugh MacLennan. The story takes place in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and focuses on the effects of the Halifax Explosion and a romance plot. It is often included in Canadian high school curriculums....
- Herbert West–Reanimator
- Rilla of InglesideRilla of InglesideRilla of Ingleside is the final book in the Anne of Green Gables series by Lucy Maud Montgomery, but was the sixth of the eight "Anne" novels she wrote. This book draws the focus back onto a single character, Anne and Gilbert's youngest daughter Bertha Marilla "Rilla" Blythe...
- The Stones Are HatchingThe Stones Are HatchingThe Stones Are Hatching is a young adult fantasy novel by Geraldine McCaughrean first published in November 1999 by Oxford University Press. It recounts the fictional adventures of Phelim Green and his companions as they try to prevent the Stoor Worm from waking.- Plot summary :Phelim awakes one...
- Fly Away PeterFly Away PeterFly Away Peter is a 1982 novel by Australian author David Malouf.Fly Away Peter won The Age Book of the Year award in 1982, and is often studied at senior level in Australian high schools.-Plot summary:...
- Soldier's Pay (William Faulkner)
Genres Influenced by World War I
Several entire genres grew out of the disillusionment and disappointment of World War I. The hard-boiled detective novelsHardboiled
Hardboiled crime fiction is a literary style, most commonly associated with detective stories, distinguished by the unsentimental portrayal of violence and sex. The style was pioneered by Carroll John Daly in the mid-1920s, popularized by Dashiell Hammett over the course of the decade, and refined...
of the 1920s featured bitter veteran protagonists. The horror novels
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
of H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
after the war showed a new sense of nihilism and despair in the face of an uncaring, chaotic cosmos, very unlike his more conventional horror before the war.
See also
- War novelWar novelA war novel is a novel in which the primary action takes place in a field of armed combat, or in a domestic setting where the characters are preoccupied with the preparations for, or recovery from, war...
- List of films based on war books
- Literature of World War ILiterature of World War IMany authors have depicted World War I in literature. During the war itself, it has been estimated that thousands of poems were written every day by combatants and their relatives....
- Fiction based on World War IIFiction based on World War IIMany types of fiction have involved events in the World War II time period. This list is a chronological collection of significant events from such fiction. It includes events that were set in World War II but have never occurred...