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by Michael Roper (Author)
Afterlives of war documents the lives and historical pursuits of the generations who grew up in Australia, Britain and Germany after the First World War. Although they were not direct witnesses to the conflict, they experienced its effects from their earliest years. Based on ninety oral history interviews and observation during the First World War Centenary, this pioneering study reveals the contribution of descendants to the contemporary memory of the First World War, and the intimate personal legacies of the conflict that animate their history-making.
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Afterlives of war is a study of the generations in Britain, Germany and Australia who were born after the First World War and lived in its shadow. These people experienced the effects of the global cataclysm in their homes as young children before they ever knew the conflict as History. Yet because they were not direct witnesses, and their testimonies were 'second hand', the war's impact on them was often hidden.
Drawing on ninety interviews, observation of the First World War Centenary, and research on the First World War past in the author's own family, this book documents the personal legacies of the conflict and the rich historical culture that descendants create. It investigates the letters, photographs, trench art and official records held in private archives; reconstructs the descendants' relationships with members of the war generation; and reflects on how the history of war in the family shaped them as children and throughout their lives. The book describes the effort to piece together the war stories of parents and grandparents, and explores how this interacts with different national traditions of remembrance.
Motivated by the experience of coming after, descendants have played a key role in the cultural memory of the First World War since 1918.
Author Biography
Michael Roper is Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex
