Examines the role of Christianity in British statecraft, politics, media, the armed forces and in the education and socialization of the young during the Second World War. This volume presents a major reappraisal of the role of Christianity in Great Britain between 1939 and 1945, examining the influence of Christianity on British society, statecraft, politics, the media, the armed forces, and on the education and socialization of the young. Its chapters address themes such as the spiritual mobilization of nation and empire; the limitations of Mass Observation's commentary on wartime religious life; Catholic responses to strategic bombing; servicemen and the dilemma of killing; the development of Christian-Jewish relations, and the predicament of British military chaplains in Germany in the summer of 1945. By demonstrating the enduring -even renewed- importance of Christianity in British national life, British Christianity and the Second World War also sets the scene for some major post-war developments. Though the war years triggered a 'resacralization' of British society and culture, inherent racism meant that the exalted self-image of Christian Britain proved sadly deceptive for post-war immigrants from the Caribbean. Wartime confidence in the prospective role of the state in religious education soon transpired to be ill-founded, while the profound upheavals of war -and even the bromides of 'BBC Religion'- were, in the longer term, corrosive of conventional religious practice and traditional denominational loyalties. This volume will be of interest to historians of British society and the Second World War, twentieth-century British religion, and the perennial interplay of religion and conflict.

About the Author
MICHAEL SNAPE is Michael Ramsey Professor of Anglican Studies at Durham University. STUART BELL is an Honorary Research Fellow of St John's College, Durham University. MICHAEL SNAPE is Michael Ramsey Professor of Anglican Studies at Durham University. PHILIP WILLIAMSON is Emeritus Professor of modern history at Durham University. STUART BELL is an Honorary Research Fellow of St John's College, Durham University. MATTHEW GRIMLEY is associate professor in modern history at the University of Oxford and fellow and tutor at Merton College. CAITRIONA MCCARTNEY is an Honorary Fellow at the Department of Theology and Religion, Durham University. PETER HOWSON is the author of Padre, Prisoner and Pen-Pusher. The World War One Experiences of the Reverend Benjamin O'Rorke and Muddling Through. The Organisation of British Army Chaplaincy in World War One. For Boydell's Church of England Record Society Series, he edited The First World War Diaries of the Rt. Rev. Llewellyn Gwynne (2019). As a member of the Royal Army Chaplains' Department Howson served in Germany during the period 1977to 1997.


Book Information
ISBN 9781837650194
Author Canon Professor Michael Snape
Format Hardback
Page Count 242
Imprint The Boydell Press
Publisher Boydell & Brewer Ltd