Samuel Beckett and the Second World War: Politics, Propaganda and a ‘Universe Become Provisional’

Review “This deep and original re-examination of Samuel Beckett's experience in occupied France during World War Two is a revelation, a book that opens so many new vistas onto Beckett's creative breakthrough, and the gestation of Waiting for Godot, Endgame and the post-war prose. A stunning debut.” ―Robert McCrum, Beckett Centre Creative Fellow, University of Reading, UK Product Description In the wake of the Second World War, Samuel Beckett wrote some of the most significant literary works of the 20th century. This is the first full-length historical study to examine the far-reaching impact of the war on Beckett's creative and intellectual sensibilities.Drawing on a substantial body of archival material, including letters, manuscripts, diaries and interviews, as well as a wealth of historical sources, this book explores Beckett's writing in a range of political contexts, from the racist dogma of Nazism and aggressive traditionalism of the Vichy regime to Irish neutrality censorship and the politics of recovery in the French Fourth Republic. Along the way, Samuel Beckett and the Second World War casts new light on Beckett's political commitments and his concepts of history as they were formed during Europe's darkest hour. About the Author William Davies is a research fellow at the University of Reading. With Helen Bailey, he is the editor of Beckett and Politics (2020). He is an English editor of LONGITUDINES magazine.David Tucker is Associate Lecturer at The American College of Greece, Athens. He is the editorof British Social Realism in the Arts since 1940 (2011).Erik Tonning is Professor of British Literature and Culture at the University of Bergen, Norway. He is co-editor of the Modernist Archives series and the Historicizing Modernism series, both published by Bloomsbury. He is the author of Samuel Beckett's Abstract Drama and Modernism and Christianity, as well as the editor of a number of volumes on modernism.Matthew Feldman is Professorial Teaching Fellow, Norwegian Study Centre, University of York, UK.