Curating the Great War

Curating the Great War explores the inception and subsequent development of museums of the Great War and the animating spirit which lay behind them. The book approaches museums of the Great War as political entities, some more overtly than others, but all unable to escape from the politics of the war, its profound legacies and its enduring memory. Their changing configurations and content are explored as reflections of the social and political context in which they exist. Curating of the Great War has expanded beyond the walls of museum buildings, seeking public engagement, both direct and digital, and taking in whole landscapes. Recognizing this fact, the book examines these museums as standing at the nexus of historiography, museology, anthropology, archaeology, sociology and politics as well as being a lieux de mémoire. Their multi-vocal nature makes them a compelling subject for research and above all the book highlights that it is in these museums that we see the most complete fusion of the material culture of conflict with its historical, political and experiential context. This book is an essential read for researchers of the reception of the Great War through material culture and museums.

Paul Cornish was, for 32 years, a curator at Imperial War Museums. He is co-editor of the Routledge series Material Culture and Modern Conflict. Nicholas J. Saunders is Professor of Material Culture at Bristol University, UK, and co-director of the 'Great Arab Revolt Project'.

Introduction: Challenging perspectives on museums and the Great War; PART I: Museums, Identities and the Politics of Memory: Chapter 1: From one war to another: German army museums and exhibitions on the First World War, 1914-1940; Chapter 2: The Great War in French Museums 1914-2018; Chapter 3: Curating on the frontier: The Museum of the Great War in Gorizia, Italy; Chapter 4: Curating Dominion Narratives of the Great War; Chapter 5: Curating the Great War at the Imperial War Museum During the Second World War; PART II: Museums and Materialities: Chapter 6: East of the Jordan: Curating and forgetting the First World War and the Arab Revolt along the Hejaz Railway; Chapter 7: Conflict Landscape as Museum and Memorial: The Walk of Peace from the Alps to the Adriatic; Chapter 8: Digging a trench in an upstairs gallery: Commemorating the Great War in rural Dorset; Chapter 9. Curating the Great War in Poland: The prisoner-of-war camp at Czersk; Chapter 10: Curating the Macedonian Campaign; Chapter 11: 'Oh! What a Lovely Exhibition!': Exploring the Imperial War Museum's First World War 50th anniversary displays, 1964-1968; Chapter 12: Te Papa's Gallipoli: The scale of our war: Curating innovation; PART III: Audiences and Engagement: Chapter 13: Curating the Sensory War, 1914-2014: emotions, sensations and the violence of modern war; Chapter 14: Forgotten War? Coping with First World War trauma, and strategies for centenary commemoration in the Federal State of Tyrol, Austria; Chapter 15: Curating the Masonic Peace Memorial, London; Chapter 16: What Need of Tears?: Collaborative memorial-making in the centenary of The Great War; Chapter 17: Contested memories: Exhibiting the Great War in the Ulster Museum, Belfast; Chapter 18: The predicament of material culture: In situ legacies of the Isonzo Front after the First World War centenary (2014-2018); Afterword: Commemorating the First World today: The In Flanders Fields Museum, Ypres, Belgium; Index.