Dying for the Nation: Cultural History of Modern War

Death in war matters. It matters to the individual, threatened with their own death, or the death of loved ones. It matters to groups and communities, who have to find ways to manage death, to support the bereaved, and to dispose of bodies amidst the confusion of conflict. And death in war matters to the state, which has to find ways of coping with mass death that convey a sense of gratitude and respect for the sacrifice of both the victims of war, and those that mourn in their wake.

This book explores the experience and meanings of death, grief and bereavement for Britain and the British people during the Second World War, considering the ways that the demands of war shaped the British emotional economy. While the state had to find ways to manage the deaths of thousands, both civilian and combatant, the individually bereaved had to find ways to live with grief in an emotional economy that valued restraint, and in a wartime culture that often saw expressions of grief as detrimental to collective morale.

Drawing on a wealth of different sources, ranging from letters, diaries and memoirs to films, magazines, novels and government planning papers, this study traces the management, experience and memory of death in Britain in wartime Britain. It will be of interest to anyone with an interest in the social and cultural history of Britain in the Second World War.