'Writing Armageddon' examines the poetry and fiction written by British and American writers caught up in the First World War in relation to the work of German, French, Italian and-to a lesser extent-Russian, Portuguese, Hungarian, Flemish, and Danish authors. Successive chapters discuss what sort of people these writers were; in what physical and psychological shape they were in as they wrote about the war; what literary techniques they employed; how other forms of creative talent, such as painting, were fostered or deflected by the war; and how far memoirs of this war prepared the way for the next one. 'Writing Armageddon' is an important contribution to the understanding of the way literature and art relate to the psychological and social structures of the communities within which they are produced.
