War Books: A Study in Historical Criticism

This publication marks the long overdue appearance in English of Jean Norton Cru's controversial classic on the nature of war, as told in the words of witnesses, the French soldiers in the trenches of World War I. "War Books: A Study in Historical Criticism" is a translation, by the author himself, of his work entitled "Testimony (Du Témoignage," Paris, 1931). Cru, French born and educated, was for many years both before and after the war a professor of French literature at Williams College. During the war he was engaged in some of the severest fighting before Verdun. "Testimony," here presented as "War Books," the title chosen by Cru himself, is a shortened version of the author's "Witnesses (Témoins," Paris, 1929), a monumental study of some three hundred renderings-diaries, memoirs, reflections, letters, novels-by French combat soldiers telling of their experiences and impressions of the war. Cru's selected editing preserves much of the critical and analytical introduction of the larger work and retains the bibliography, while reducing the number of authors excerpted. Originally published in 1988.