The Cross and the Trenches ― Religious Faith and Doubt Among British and American Great War Soldiers

A scholar of war and society, Schweitzer says that almost all accounts of the spirituality of British and American soldiers during World War I have been conceived and written in the context of a struggle between traditional and avant-garde culture that he doubts really existed until after the war. Within a different model portraying a spectrum of religious beliefs ranging from absolute faith in God to pure atheism, he investigates such questions as how religious soldiers were, what impact the war had on their beliefs, and what motifs and patterns dominated their religious responses to the war. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

RICHARD SCHWEITZER is an independent scholar. His articles on war and culture have appeared in Weber Studies, Film and History, and War & Society.