History& the Novel: Europe & The Shadow of War, 1914-1953
From the rise of Revolutionary France, to the War in Iraq, modern Europe has been shaped and
framed by wars and revolutions which have changed the continent forever. In the process many grand
narratives have been generated, in History as in Literature. Yet whilst History’s focus is on the key
events and of course the key figures that have driven those narratives, the stories that Novelists tell
tend to be rather different, instead focussing on the everyday lives and loves of ordinary people. And
in these stories grand events feature sometimes as cause for personal transformation, sometimes for
nothing but harrowing despair, but always as backdrop to everyday affairs. In this sense it is novelists
perhaps, more than historians, who get closest to capturing the essence of the times, regardless of the
‘fictional’ nature of their stories. This course then sets out to examine key periods in Modern
European History through the eyes of those novelists, exploring the enduring power of the stories they
tell and contrasting this with the realities of academic history.
In this option we focus on Europe under the shadow of war - from the origins of World War One and
Russian Revolution, to the lingering effects of World War Two, and the outbreak of Cold War, when
European life was attacked on all fronts, militarily, economically and ideologically. How then did the
people of Europe experience those struggles, and how did the next generation come to terms with the
often bitter memories of those experiences? In answering those questions particular focus is paid both
to the experience of those living with dictatorship, especially in Germany and Russia, and to those
whose democracies appeared to be under fierce challenge, like France, and even Britain. Novelists
covered include Bulgakov, Faulks, Camus, Schlink and Solzhenitsyn, and extracts from their works
will be examined in conjunction with academic histories of the period.
Weeks 1-2. Britain & the Lingering Effects of World War One
Novel Extracts: Sebastian Faulks, Birdsong
Weeks 3-4. Russia – in War and Revolution
Novel Extracts: M. Bulgakov, The White Guard
Weeks 5-6. France & the Divisive Legacy of World War II
Novel Extracts: Albert Camus, The Plague
Weeks 7-8. Russia: Stalinism & Terror
Novel Extracts: Alexander Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Weeks 9-10. Germany – Nazism & the Next Generation
Novel Extracts: Bernard Schlink, The Reader
Broader Background Reading :
Alan Bullock, Hitler: A Study in Tyranny
R.Conquest, Stalin: Breaker of Nations
Mary Fulbrook, The Divided Nation: A History of Germany 1918-1990
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R. Gellately, The Gestapo & German Society: Enforcing Racial Policy
Robert Gildea, Marianne in Chains
D.J. Goldhagen, Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust
Richard Holmes, The Western Front
M. Housden, Resistance & Conformity in the Third Reich
Julian Jackson, France: The Dark Years 1940 - 1944
Martin Kitchen, Europe Between the Wars
John Keegan, The First World War
Ian Kershaw, The Nazi Dictatorship
John Laffin, British Butchers and Bunglers of World War One
Stephen J. Lee, Aspects of European History, 1789 - 1980
Stephen J. Lee European Dictatorships, 1918-1945
Martin McCauley, The Soviet Union, 1917-1991
Martin McCauley, Stalin and Stalinism
Robert Paxton, Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order
R.Pipes, The Russian Revolution, 1899-1919
Robert Service, A History of Twentieth Century Russia
Robert Service, Stalin: A Biography
Hugh Seton-Watson, The Russian Empire 1801-1917
Gary Sheffield, Forgotten Victory: The First World War - Myths and Realities
Alan G.V. Simmonds, Britain and World War One
Hew Strachan, The First World War: A New History
David Stevenson, 1914-1918: The History of World War One
Norman Stone, World War One: A Short History
Richard Vinen, The Unfree French: Life Under the Occupation
Eric D. Weitz, Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy
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