Table of Contents

1. Background and purpose; 2. Historical perspective; 3. Methods and ethics; 4. Current theory: post-traumatic stress disorder; 5. Approaches to understanding trauma; 6. Positive outcomes of traumatic experiences; 7. Memory and history; 8. Personal narrative and social discourse; 9. Illustrating narrative as a scientific technique: the role of social support; 10. Ageing, trauma and memory; 11. Literature and trauma; 12. Memorialisation and commemoration; 13. Battlefield tours; 14. Conclusions and future directions.

Promotional Information

A compelling examination of how societal and cultural factors can influence psychological responses to war.

About the Author

Nigel C. Hunt is an associate professor at the Institute of Work, Health and Organisations at the University of Nottingham. His main research area is traumatic stress, particularly but not solely in relation to war. Theoretically, he favours an interdisciplinary approach, and increasingly draws on narrative theory and method.

Reviews

'An imaginative and highly readable introduction to the study of the lifelong personal consequences of war. The author demonstrates a lively personal engagement with his subject and has the necessary wide range of interests, from the biological and social sciences to the humanities, to do it justice.' Peter G. Coleman, University of Southampton

'Nigel Hunt's Memory, War and Trauma is a must-read for military and other psychologists and mental health workers together with many others, including historians, social scientists and writers, who may have an interest in the topic. The book provides a very readable overview of the area with a particular focus on the roles of personal narrative and social discourse and on the perspective shown from literature.' Jamie Hacker Hughes, Ministry of Defence

'… the author sheds new light on the individual and social narratives relating to this enormous subject.' Journal of Clinical Psychiatry