David Reynolds Quote

So, in the still-lingering shadow of 1861–65, let us suspend disbelief for a while and look more attentively at Europe’s Great War. To a large extent, American perceptions of 1914–18 have been influenced by debates in Britain—readily accessible via the common language. There 1914–18 has become a literary war, a human tragedy detached from its moorings in historical events, entrenched in the mud of Flanders and Picardy, illuminated only by a few antiwar poets such as Wilfred Owen—perhaps the most studied writer in the English school curriculum after William Shakespeare. My subject is War and the pity of War, Owen declared. The Poetry is in the pity. Yet by reducing the conflict to personal tragedies, however moving, the British have lost the big picture: history has been distilled into poetry.6

David Reynolds

So, in the still-lingering shadow of 1861–65, let us suspend disbelief for a while and look more attentively at Europe’s Great War. To a large extent, American perceptions of 1914–18 have been influenced by debates in Britain—readily accessible via the common language. There 1914–18 has become a literary war, a human tragedy detached from its moorings in historical events, entrenched in the mud of Flanders and Picardy, illuminated only by a few antiwar poets such as Wilfred Owen—perhaps the most studied writer in the English school curriculum after William Shakespeare. My subject is War and the pity of War, Owen declared. The Poetry is in the pity. Yet by reducing the conflict to personal tragedies, however moving, the British have lost the big picture: history has been distilled into poetry.6

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About David Reynolds

David Reynolds may refer to:

David Reynolds (author) (born 1948), English publisher and author
David Reynolds (historian) (born 1952), English professor of history
David Reynolds (racing driver) (born 1985), Australian racing car driver
David Reynolds (screenwriter) (born 1962), American screenwriter for television and film
David H. Reynolds, co-owner of a mobile home parks business in the United States
David K. Reynolds (active since 1976), American psychologist
David P. Reynolds (1915–2011), American businessman, also owner and breeder of thoroughbred racing horses
David S. Reynolds (born 1948), American historian
Dave Reynolds (musician) (born 1972), South African composer and multi-instrumentalist