It‘s hard to imagine that in a place where the flames of (不须用the) war (战争在进行期间 raged 要改为 were raging) across the land , artists or scientists (can 要改为 could) sit back quietly to (pursuit是名词,要改为 pursue) their artistic or scientific goals ..为什么是were呢？是序述式的过去语态。这里为什么要用过去时态呢这是常用的一般时态，例: If I were you, I wouldn't.....同理