Soldiers of Uncertain Rank

The West India Regiments in British Imperial Culture

AvDavid Lambert

Inbunden, Engelska, 2024

Del i serien Critical Perspectives on Empire

1 160 kr

Beställningsvara. Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar. Fri frakt över 249 kr.

Beskrivning

The West India Regiments were an anomalous presence in the British Army. Raised in the late eighteenth-century Caribbean in an act of military desperation, their rank-and-file were overwhelmingly men of African descent, initially enslaved. As such, the regiments held a unique but ambiguous place in the British Army and British Empire until their disbandment in 1927. Soldiers of Uncertain Rank brings together the approaches of cultural, imperial and military history in new and illuminating ways to show how the image of these regiments really mattered. This image shaped perceptions in the Caribbean societies in which they were raised and impacted on how they were deployed there and in Africa. By examining the visual and textual representation of these soldiers, this book uncovers a complex, under-explored and illuminating figure that sat at the intersection of nineteenth-century debates about slavery and freedom; racial difference; Britishness; savagery and civilisation; military service and heroism.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2024-10-31
Mått:160 x 235 x 20 mm
Vikt:520 g
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Serie:Critical Perspectives on Empire
Antal sidor:262
Förlag:Cambridge University Press
ISBN:9781009464413

Utforska kategorier

Mer om författaren

David Lambert is Professor of Caribbean History at the University of Warwick. He is author of Mastering the Niger (2013) and White Creole Culture (2005).

Recensioner i media

'In Soldiers of Uncertain Rank, David Lambert has given us a book that will be a reference point for years and decades to come, particularly for anyone interested in how the British Empire assembled and managed regiments that were mostly a direct result of their own expansive colonial policies. This is, without a doubt, the most comprehensive and thoroughly researched study to date on the key role played by the West India Regiments throughout the Age of Revolution's Atlantic World.' Manuel Barcia, University of Leeds

Innehållsförteckning

List of Figures; Acknowledgements; List of Abbreviations; 1. Race, Military Spectacle and the West India Regiments; 2. The Spectre of a Black Soldiery; 3. Establishing the Steady Black Soldier; 4. The Reorientation of the West India Regiments; 5. Displaying Valour: Samuel Hodge, VC; 6. Neither Soldiers nor Warriors; 7. Bringing the Troops Home; 8. Remembering the West India Regiments; Bibliography; Index.