In case you wondered …

… Why literature written out of the First World War is some of the last century’s finest writing - The Globe and Mail. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Writers about the Great War had to grapple with … loss of innocence in their work, a painful business that enriched their art. By contrast, writers who took the Second World War as their subject were not so shocked by the inhumanity of war, the incompetence of generals, or the cynicism of politicians. They came to their war harder, colder, less susceptible to ideals. Plus, they had a cause that needed no justification, whereas many British writers about the Great War ended up ambivalent or downright negative about their participation – another dilemma that deepened their work.