In Memoriam, Encountering World War I, and Thinkable Horrors

Maggie Appleton · 18 Jul 2026

Maggie Appleton did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
Fiction can give a more comprehensive and representative picture of history than any single true account, because it combines many people's lived experiences and explains the wider context.

Their wordsFiction can often tell a more comprehensive and representative story of history than any single "true" account by stitching together many people's lived experiences, then zooming out to explain the context across multiple characters.
Our reading
People quickly forget that suffering on the scale of the First World War is possible, and it becomes acceptable easily.

Their wordsI considered how quickly we forget this level of suffering is possible. How easily it becomes acceptable.
Our reading
The world is not as far as people like to imagine from mass, global, industrial-scale death, and is likely only a few decades from it.

Their wordsIt reminded me we are not as far as we like to imagine from mass, global, industrial-scale death. Just over a hundred years past it. Likely only a few decades from it.

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