This volume synthesises the latest scholarship on First World War veterans in post-war Britain and Ireland, investigating the topic through its political, social and cultural dynamics. It examines the post-war experiences of those men and women who served and illuminates the nature of the post-war society for which service had been given. Complicating the homogenising tendency in existing scholarship it offers comparison of the experiences of veterans in different regions of Britain, including perspectives drawn from Ireland. Further nuance is offered by the assessment of the experiences of ex-servicewomen alongside those of ex-servicemen, such focus deeping understanding into the gendered specificities of post-war veteran activities and experiences. Moreover, case studies of specific cohorts of veterans are offered, including focus on disabled veterans and ex-prisoners of war.
In these regards the collection offers vital updates to existing scholarship while bringing important new departures and challenges to the current interpretive frameworks of veteran experiences in post-war Britain and Ireland.
Edited by:
David Swift,
Oliver Wilkinson
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Weight: 440g
ISBN: 9780367174620
ISBN 10: 0367174626
Series: Routledge Studies in First World War History
Pages: 208
Publication Date: 21 February 2019
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
List of Contributors Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction British Veterans after the First World War David Swift & Oliver Wilkinson Chapter 1. The Deep Roots of The British Legion: The Emergence of First World War British Veterans’ Organisations Mike Hally Chapter 2. Ex-servicemen and the Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Airmen’s Families Association, 1919-21 Paul Huddie Chapter 3. Between Workers and Soldiers: The Relationship between the Labour Party and Ex-servicemen after the First World War Marcus Morris Chapter 4. ‘A Fighting Man and a Thinking Man’: The British Left, Ex-Servicemen, and Working-Class Culture, 1914-1924 David Swift Chapter 5. Revolution, Ex-Servicemen, and the Cork Branch of the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilised Sailors and Soldiers, 1918-21 John Borgonovo Chapter 6. ‘It’s up to you now to fight for your own country’: Ireland’s Great War Veterans in the War of Independence, 1919-21 Steven O’Connor Chapter 7. ‘Still in the Ranks of the Old Corps, Though Not on Active Service’: Women’s Veteran Organisations in Interwar Britain. Krisztina Robert Chapter 8. Paternalism and Prosthetics: Life for Disabled Veterans and Their Families on a Post-War Settlement Martin Purdy Chapter 9. Wounded in a Mentionable Place: The (In)visibility of the Disabled Ex-serviceman in Inter-war Britain Jessica Meyer Chapter 10. Ex-Prisoners of War, 1914-18: Veteran Association, Assimilation and Disassociation After the First World War Oliver Wilkinson Bibliography Index
David Swift is the Kreitman Postdoctoral Fellow at Ben Gurion University of the Negev Oliver Wilkinson is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Wolverhampton