Series begins today at Lyons Center

Lecturer/researcher Victor Harris will examine the conflict that consumed the globe in a four-year struggle that claimed millions of lives, in a lecture and discussion series entitled 'The Lamps Went Out in Europe: World War One - That Seminal Catastrophe.'

The first piece to be reviewed at noon at the Lyons Community Center, 9 Manhattan St. Ext., on April 17, is The Guns of August, by Barbara Tuchman.

Subsequent meetings will be held every two weeks through June 26, and will examine Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo; And Quiet Flows The Don (Vol.1), by Mikhail Sholokhov; Farewell To Arms, by Ernest Hemingway; One Man's Initiation: 1917, by John Dos Passos; and All Quiet On The Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque

Each lecture and selected reading in this series, funded by the Robert G. Boehmler Community Foundation, will focus on a different topic of watershed historical events. Themes discussed will be the breakdown of diplomacy that led to the war; the horrors of the new technological-industrial warfare; the belated entry of the United States into the war, and how conduct on the home front contradicted its moral platform as a 'War For Democracy.'

Special emphasis will be given to the collapse of the 'Old Order' in Europe and the Middle East, and how that translated into a new round of conflicts and issues that continue to plague policy makers in the modern international arena.

While individual battles and campaigns will be examined to illustrate important themes, the program has a broader scope as it explores the political and social dynamics of this seminal catastrophe. A brief video presentation will introduce each new topic, and a handout with a comprehensive bibliography and maps will be provided.

Harris earned his Bachelor's degree in History and Master's in Library Science at SUNY Geneseo, taught history at the high school level for several years, received the University of Rochester Excellence in Teaching Award, and now works for the New York State Research Foundation. He researches, writes and lectures on historic and literary topics.

For information or to pre-register for the free lectures, call Sharon Lubitow (946.3367), Andi Evangelist (946.9340).

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