Popular Imperialism and the Military: 1850–1950

Popular culture is invariably a vehicle for the dominant ideas of its age. Never was this more true than in the late-19th and early 20th centuries, when it reflected the nationalist and imperialist ideologies current throughout Europe. The essays in this volume explore how the colonial warfare of the British Empire was represented to the folks back home, through such media as music and ceremony, music halls, juvenile literature, the hagiography of heroic myths, war correspondents, and battle paintings. They trace a continuity of cultural expressions through World War II and beyond, and delve into the attitudes of both the practitioners and observers.