War and the Mind ─ Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End, Modernism, and Psychology

This is the first full-length critical study of Parade's End to focus on the psychological effects of the war. Originally published in 4 volumes between 1924 and 1928, Parade's End has been described as 'the finest novel about the First World War' (Anthony Burgess), 'the greatest war novel ever written by an Englishman' (Samuel Hynes), 'a central Modernist novel of the 1920s, in which it is exemplary' (Malcolm Bradbury), and 'possibly the greatest 20th-century novel in English' (John N. Gray).
These 10 newly commissioned essays focus on the psychological effects of the war, both upon Ford himself and upon his novel: its characters, its themes and its form. The chapters explore: Ford's pioneering analysis of war trauma, trauma theory, shell shock, memory and repression, insomnia, empathy, therapy, literary Impressionism and literary style. Writers discussed alongside Ford include Joseph Conrad, Siegfried Sassoon, May Sinclair, and Rebecca West, as well as theorists Deleuze and Guattari, Michel Foucault, Sigmund Freud, William James, and W. H. R. Rivers.

Dr Ashley Chantler is Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Chester. He is the series editor of Character Studies (Continuum); author of 'Heart of Darkness': Character Studies (Continuum, 2008); co-editor of Translation Practices: Through Language to Culture (Rodopi, 2009), Studying English Literature (Continuum 2010), and Literature and Authenticity, 17801900 (Ashgate, 2011); and editor of the Ford Madox Ford Society Newsletter. He is currently editing, with Rob Hawkes, Ford Madox Ford: An Introduction (Ashgate).
Dr Rob Hawkes is Senior Lecturer in English Studies at Teesside University and Visiting Lecturer in English at Leeds Trinity University. He is the author of Ford Madox Ford and the Misfit Moderns: Edwardian Fiction and the First World War (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012); and the Ford Madox Ford Society's Publicity Officer. He is currently editing, with Ashley Chantler, Ford Madox Ford: An Introduction (Ashgate).