God and the British Soldier

by Michael Snape

Drawing on a wealth of new material from military, ecclesiastical and secular civilian archives, Michael Snape presents a study of the experience of the officers and men of Britain’s vast citizen armies, and also of the numerous religious agencies which ministered to them. Historians of the First and Second World Wars have consistently underestimated the importance of religion in Britain during the war years, but this book shows that religion had much greater currency and influence in twentieth-century British society than has previously been realised. Snape argues that religion provided a key component of military morale and national identity in both the First and Second World Wars, and demonstrates that, contrary to accepted wisdom, Britain’s popular religious culture emerged intact and even strengthened as a result of the army’s experiences of war. The book covers such a range of disciplines, that students and scholars of military history, British history and Religion will all benefit from its purchase.

Genres: Academic

336 pages, Hardcover

First published October 27, 2005

About the author

Michael Snape is Michael Ramsey Professor of Anglican Studies in the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Durham.

Reviews

[Davina · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important work looking at Chaplaincy in the British Army during the two World Wars, and, specifically considering whether the wars resulted in the secularization of British society. This is an academic work but reads quite well. The endnotes are not complete, so you need to reference the Bibliography to know what work the author is citing with a particular footnote. As you might guess from the prior comment, that I read footnotes (and endnotes). This book covers a huge territory in time, space, and among denominations and other religious organizations such as the Church Army and YMCA. If you want to understand the Chaplain in the British Army, this is the work. I think it an excellent complement to Alan Robinson's work on the Second World War.