Humanities & Science
History: Early C20 Literature and War
Course details
Course code
Q00021667Course date
Start: 10/06/25
End: 01/07/25
Number of classes
4 sessionsTutor
Guest SpeakerFee range
Free to £22.20
How you'll learn
Venue
OnlineLevel of study
Availability
You can enrol online for this course
Course overview
The First World War, the rise of fascism and the Second World War between them
reshaped global history in the early C20. Dr Simon Gregor, as a historian, has spent
years studying these dark years of European (and indeed global) history. At the
same time, Simon's first degree was in literature, and in this course he will examine
how this period of history also reshaped the way in which people thought about, and
wrote about, the world.
Course description
In each of the four weeks of the course, we will focus on a
different literary text: the poems of Wilfred Owen; ""All Quiet on the Western Front"" by
German WW1 veteran Erich Remarque; ""Journey's End"" by R C Sherriff; and finally
""The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui"" by German playwright Bertholt Brecht. We will
explore each as a work of literature, and also as a lens onto changing attitudes: to
warfare, to literature, and indeed to the very idea of what it means to be part of a
""civilised society"".
It is not necessary to read the listed texts before the course (unless of course, you
want to).
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