The award-winning "The Great War and Modern Memory" (1975) was a cultural and literary analysis of the impact of World War I on the development of modern literature and modern literary conventions. John Keegan said its effect was "revolutionary", in that it showed how literature could be a vehicle for expressing the experience of large groups. "What Paul did was go to the literary treatments of the war by 20 or 30 participants and turn them into an encapsulation of a collective European experience". (John Keegan) Joseph Heller called it "the best book I know of about world war one".