Samuel Beckett and the Second World War

On his return to Paris at the end of the Second World War, Samuel Beckett went on to write some of the most important literary works of the 20th century. This is the first in-depth historical study to reveal the full extent of the impact of the war on Beckett's writing. Exploring the full range of Beckett's work, from his plays to his fiction and poetry, the book also draws on a substantial body of archival writing, from the German diaries describing his experiences in Nazi Germany, to details of his resistance work in occupied France, his involvement with the Irish Red Cross and his attitudes to Irish neutrality and his return to France after the liberation. 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.