The Great War on the Small Screen: Representing the First World War in Contemporary Britain. Emma Hanna. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press, 2009.

For many Americans—at least those less than about 98 years old—World War I is barely a blip on the historical screen. The assassination of an Austrian archduke in Sarajevo ignited a devastating conflict that ravaged Europe from 1914 to 1918. But   the United States didn’t enter the war until 1917, and emerged comparatively unscathed. It’s true that American troops suffered losses on the battlefield, Congress passed the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918, and everyone risked succumbing to the deadly pandemic known as the Spanish Flu. But for most Americans, “The Great War” was primarily a prelude to the conflict that would really matter: World War II. [Read more...]