Abstract

In its totality, the “Long Second World War”—extending from the beginning of the Spanish Civil War to the end of hostilities in 1945—has exerted enormous influence over European culture. Bringing together leading historians, sociologists, and literary and film scholars, this broadly interdisciplinary volume investigates Europeans’ individual and collective memories and the ways in which they have shaped the continent’s cultural heritage. Focusing on the major combatant nations—Spain, Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, and Russia—it offers thoroughly contextualized explorations of novels, memoirs, films, and a host of other cultural forms to illuminate European public memory.

“Manuel Braganca and Peter Tame have compiled a highly stimulating volume of essays, which whets the appetite for more.” • Journal of European Studies

“This is a useful and interesting book, consistently lucid in style and approach, that addresses a gap in the existing scholarship. Beyond the quality and interest of its individual chapters, its scope helps to make it particularly revealing and valuable.” • Marina Mackay, St. Peter’s College, University of Oxford

“This accomplished volume offers the opportunity to reflect comparatively on the different historical trajectories and cultural stories of seven European nations grappling with the long aftermath of the Second World War. Among its innovations are its combination of historiographical research with analysis of cultural representations, its challenge to a sharply delineated East-West nexus of war memory and scholarship, and its focus on popular culture.” • Claire Gorrara, Cardiff University

“One of the strengths of this well-organized collection is its range, covering East and West Europe, and Allied and Axis countries. In addition to the obvious cultural and political contrasts, this allows many intriguing parallels to emerge.” • Margaret Atack, University of Leeds

Peter Tame is Reader in French Studies at Queen’s University Belfast. His principal research interests lie in the areas of war literature, literature and politics in twentieth-century France, and especially fictional representations of Fascism and Communism. His new book Isotopias (2015) looks at places and spaces in French war fiction of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Manuel Bragança is Assistant Professor in French Studies in the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics at University College Dublin, Ireland, where he is also a member of the Centre for War Studies and of the Humanities Institute. His research interests focus on the historiography and memories of the Second World War in France and Europe. He is an editor of the online research platform H-France and an assistant editor of the journal Open Cultural Studies.