Spanning the colonial campaigns of the Victorian age to the War on Terror after 9/11, this study explores the role sport was perceived to have played in the lives and work of military personnel, and examines how sporting language and imagery were deployed to shape and reconfigure civilian society's understanding of conflict.

From 1850 onwards war reportage - complemented and reinforced by a glut of campaign histories, memoirs, novels and films - helped create an imagined community in which sporting attributes and qualities were employed to give meaning and order to the chaos and misery of warfare. This work explores the evolution of the Victorian notion that playing-field and battlefield were connected and then moves on to investigate the challenges this belief faced in the twentieth century, as combat became, initially, industrialised in the age of total warfare and, subsequently, professionalised in the post-nuclear world. Such a longitudinal study allows, for the first time, new light to be shed on the continuities and shifts in the way the 'reality' of war was captured in the British popular imagination.

Drawing together the disparate fields of sport and warfare, this book serves as a vital point of reference for anyone with an interest in the cultural, social or military history of modern Britain.

About the Author

Peter Donaldson is Senior Lecturer in modern British history at the University of Kent, UK.

Reviews
"This exploration of conceptual metaphors in the narration of Britain's wars-how they were packaged, configured, and presented to the public, most of whom experienced war vicariously-gives insights into the cultural values of the time from which that narration is produced." - Sebastian Potgieter, University of Otago



Book Information
ISBN 9781032237992
Author Peter Donaldson
Format Paperback
Page Count 192
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 353g