Exploring how understandings of masculinity were constructed by British First World war servicemen through examination of their personal narratives, including letters home from the front and wartime diaries. This book presents a nuanced investigation of masculine identity in Britain during and after the First World War.

'Powerful...well-argued and full of fascinating detail. [Men of War] will appeal to everyone who is interested in understanding better the most traumatic four years in Britain's modern national story. We need studies as fine as this.'

• Anthony Fletcher, History Today

'Jessica Meyer has written a strong study that combines readability with attention to detail and finds convincing conclusions while acknowledging wide variations in experiences.' - Stuart Halifax, H-Soz-u-Kult

Autorentext
JESSICA MEYER holds degrees from Yale University and the University of Cambridge, UK. She has published articles on subjects including shell-shock, the wives of disabled ex-servicemen and popular literature and the First World War. She is currently researching the history of the wedding in Britain and America.

Inhalt
List of Illustrations Abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction Writing Home: Men's Letters From the Front Wartime Diaries Remembering the Heroic Dead: Letters of Condolence 'Fit Only for Light Work': Disabled Ex-servicemen and the Struggle for Post-war Masculinity 'The Very Basic Test of Manhood': War Memoirs and the Remembering of Martial Masculinities Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index