Author Description

Between 1800 and 1900 popular perceptions of the military underwent a significant transformation. The reputation of the 'rapacious and licentious soldiery' was replaced by a widerspread enthusiasm for the soldier as patriot and hero, as personified in Kipling's 'Tommy Atkins'. This more positive attitude towards the military was also accompanied by greater popular support for warfare itself. This book examines the military and cultural background to the shift in popular reactions and traces the manner in which new values were inculcated through a variety of media. Popular imperialism and the military demonstrates forcefully how changing attitudes towards the military were inseparably bound up with the dominant ethos of imperialism. Perceptions of warfare became shaped by the predominantly colonial location of British war in the late nineteenth century, with these 'small wars' against 'unequal' foes being greeted by contemporaries with heightened enthusiasm and greater confidence in success. This ideological current of imperialism, together with Social Darwinian thought and the Victorian rediscovery of military chivalry combined to transform the relationship between war and society. Changing ideologies did not develop spontaneously, however, and this volume traces the ways in which new images were conveyed to the public through popular culture. The chapters cover media as diverse as music and ceremony, the music hall, juvenile literature, military art, open-air theatrical displays and RAF pageants. The contributors show how these media established a tradition that was to survive until the mid-twentieth century. This inter-disciplinary study will appeal to students and specialists interested in imperial history, literary and cultural studies and military history.