Cultural Heritage of the Great War in Britain

'Well researched and written, the book will appeal to those interested in historical memory and how it affects contemporary politics. ... Recommended.' Choice ’Anyone working within the fields of heritage and memory will be challenged to think again about the remembrance of war after reading this historically-informed and theoretically sophisticated volume. Elegantly written, it delivers a much-needed analysis of the ways in which the Great War is brought to mind in popular parlance, media discourse and wider cultural representations.' Emma Waterton, University of Western Sydney, Australia ’In this thoroughly researched work, Wilson examines through verbal and visual frames -such as slangs, sayings, imagery, myths, monuments and museums - the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the conflict within contemporary Britain and its powerful presence within public consciousness. This is an excellent read for anthropologists, heritage theorists and public historians.’ Kalliopi Fouseki, University College London, UK ’This book is a major contribution to both heritage and memory studies, and offers a scholarly and nuanced examination of the uses of the material and intangible heritage of the Great War within Britain. The work offers an eclectic and novel analysis of the myriad ways in which the heritage and public memory of the War are mobilised to negotiate and legitimate cultural and social values, identity, emotions and particular readings of history and the past. As Wilson elegantly and convincingly demonstrates, the memory and heritage of the Great War is a dynamic cultural tool, employed to both uphold and challenge contemporary understandings of British citizenship and national and community identity. Although focusing on the War the book offers a theoretically sophisticated analysis of heritage, and the way it is used, that has relevance for critical debates within heritage, museum and memory studies. Ross Wilson has shown himself

• Acknowledgments; Chapter 1 Introduction; Chapter 2 Slang and Sayings – War Discourse; Chapter 3 Framing the Past – Imagery and the Great War; Chapter 4 Views from the Trenches – Perspectives on the Great War; Chapter 5 Myths of the War – Imagining the Great War; Chapter 6 Museums, Memorials and Memory – Remembering the Great War; Chapter 7 Conclusions;