World War I has been on my mind a lot lately. All Quiet on the Western Front planted the seed a long time ago. There followed A Farewell to Arms, The Guns of August, and The Four Horseman of The Apocalypse (by the Spanish writer, Blasco Ibañez), among others. Recently, Deafening, by the Canadian writer, Frances Itani, presented a unique perspective from which to view the impact of the “Great War” on everyday people as…

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Oddly enough, my introduction to the brutality and savagery of war came through the eyes of a young German, Erich Maria Remarque. How old was I when I read All Quiet on the Western Front? Thirteen, maybe. I do not remember the men as much as the horses. Why is that? Have I blocked out the horror of humans mutilating each other? I remember most clearly the horse with its belly ripped open tripping and…

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