Abstract
The Introduction examines the current focus of research into the First World War away from previous ‘national’ histories into new spheres and directions. It highlights the complicated and problematic role that the war holds in modern British society and how the memory of it has been constructed, portrayed and enforced through popular media and literature to become almost sacred. It also addresses early questions regarding the nature of computer games in portraying historical events and how they operate under a different set of rules to other media regarding what is deemed ‘tasteful’ for reproduction in an interactive setting. Events such as the Holocaust are never deemed suitable for portrayal in computer games and this introduction examines how the First World War fits into this framework given its sacred status and its role in British society as the ‘bad war’.
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Notes
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© 2015 Chris Kempshall
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Kempshall, C. (2015). Introduction: Opening Up a Digital Front. In: The First World War in Computer Games. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137491763_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137491763_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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