Mike Wert


Because they have clearly demarcated beginnings and endings, wars tend to be studied in isolation. Studies are made of the events leading up to wars, the wars themselves, and their aftermaths as though each could be easily pigeon-holed. The majority of work done on the First World War, for example, has concerned itself solely with the events of 1914-1918, as though the war ended with the Armistice. What this approach forgets is that wars exact a profound and lasting influence on those who live through them. For many—and in particular for many veterans—the Great War did not end with the cessation of hostilities, it continued to influence the rest of their lives.