History and Representation in Ford Madox Ford's Writings

History and Representation in Ford Madox Ford's Writingsexplores the idea of history across various genres: fiction, autobiography, books about places and cultures, criticism, and poetry. 'I wanted the Novelist in fact to appear in his really proud position as historian of his own time', wrote Ford. The twenty leading specialists assembled for this volume consider his writing about twentieth-century events, especially the First World War; and also his representations of the...
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History and Representation in Ford Madox Ford's Writingsexplores the idea of history across various genres: fiction, autobiography, books about places and cultures, criticism, and poetry. 'I wanted the Novelist in fact to appear in his really proud position as historian of his own time', wrote Ford. The twenty leading specialists assembled for this volume consider his writing about twentieth-century events, especially the First World War; and also his representations of the past, particularly in his fine trilogy about Henry VIII and Katharine Howard, The Fifth Queen. Ford's provocative dealings with the relationship between fiction and history is shown to anticipate postmodern thinking about historiography and narrative. The collection includes essays by two acclaimed novelists, Nicholas Delbanco and Alan Judd, assessing Ford's grasp of literary history, and his place in it.