Memorials of the Great War in Britain: The Symbolism and Politics of Remembrance

Legacy of the Great War

by Alex King

Taking as its focus memorials of the First World War in Britain, this book brings a fresh approach to the study of public symbols by exploring how different motives for commemorating the dead were reconciled through the processes of local politics to create a widely valued form of collective expression. It examines how the memorials were produced, what was said about them, how support for them was mobilized and behaviour around them regulated. These memorials were the sites of contested, multiple and ambiguous meanings, yet out of them a united public observance was created. The author argues that this was possible because the interpretation of them as symbols was part of a creative process in which new meanings for traditional forms of memorial were established and circulated. The memorials not only symbolized emotional responses to the war, but also ambitions for the post-war era. Contemporaries adopted new ways of thinking about largely traditional forms of memorial to fit the uncertain social and political climate of the inter-war years.This book represents a significant contribution to the study of material culture and memory, as well as to the social and cultural history of modern warfare.

Genres: History

288 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1998

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Reviews

[Denis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the textbooks for one of the most amazing classes I have ever taken, a history course on the British WWI memorial movement. It's a very specialized book, but it is extremely powerful in its exploration of the way that the people of England tried to cope with the trauma of the Great War. It will forever change the way that you look at the "boring" statues and monuments that can be found in every city and town.

[Phil Curme · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an academic book which reads like a PhD thesis. Don’t let that put you off though, as it is an interesting exploration of how the memory of the Great War has been encapsulated in the UK’s vast estate of war memorials. It goes beyond the structures themselves, to examine how communities remember the conflict and how those memories have been captured in community events, and in popular culture more generally. For many, the memorials were conceived as a celebration of victory but relatively quickly their purpose developed into something much more profound - the lionisation of the war dead and a point of solace for those who had been bereaved. The subject is very well researched with many examples and illustrations. Each chapter is vigorously indexed.