The Generation of 1914The generation of 1914 holds a special place in memory, affection, and myth. In this irresistible and moving book, Robert Wohl rescues it from the shadows of legend and brings it fully into the realm of understanding. He tells the story of the young men--the middle class elite of five European countries, France, Germany, England, Spain, and Italy, to recreate the generational consciousness that united them as well as the unique national experience that made them different. These were men born at the end of the nineteenth century when the world of reason was disintegrating into a world of irrationality. They were destined to rule but their lives were interrupted by the greatest of wars, leaving them searching for identity and historical continuity. Wohl recaptures this search through novels, poems, autobiographies, memoirs, sociological treatises, philosophical essays, university lectures, political speeches, conversations when recorded, letters, personal notebooks, and newspaper articles. His book is a brilliant study of European mentalities, both collective and individual. Probing behind ideas to find the experience that inspired them, Wohl illuminates in unexpected ways the origins of World War I and its impact on its participants. His exploration of the consciousness of generational unity and the power of the generational bond enables him to place in a novel context the spread of pessimism and despair, the waning of liberal and humanitarian values, the rise of Communist and Fascist movements, and the sudden eruption of violence in Europe's progressive countries between the two world wars. |
Avis des internautes - Rédiger un commentaire
Aucun commentaire n'a été trouvé aux emplacements habituels.
Table des matières
In Search of the Lost Generation | 1 |
The Young Men of Today | 5 |
The Mission of the Young Generation | 42 |
Lost Legions of Youth | 85 |
The Theme of Our Time | 122 |
Giovinezza Giovinezza | 160 |
Chapter Six Wanderers between Two Worlds | 203 |
Notes | 239 |
Credits | 295 |
299 | |
Autres éditions - Tout afficher
Expressions et termes fréquents
Agathon age-group Antonio Gramsci attitude Barres believed born bourgeois Brooke Brooke's century combatants concept consciousness crisis culture death elite England eration Ernst Junger essay Europe European experience Fascist feeling felt fighting Flex France French friends front genera German Giovanni Amendola Giovanni Papini Giuseppe Prezzolini Gramsci Hans Zehrer Henri Massis human ibid idea ideals ideology intellectuals Italian Italy Junger leaders letters liberal literary lived London lost Mannheim masses Massis Mentre's mind Montherlant moral Mussolini myth Obras completas officers older Omodeo organization Ortega Papini Paris party period poems political postwar Prezzolini print version problem Psichari radical reality revolution Rupert Brooke Sassoon sense Siegfried Sassoon social Socialist society soldiers sought Spain Spanish spirit survivors T. E. Lawrence Tarde theme theory things thought tion Unamuno values veterans view this image Walter Flex Wandervogel Wilfred Owen writings wrote young younger Zehrer