Alex King Cambridge University Library

'Alex King ...has written a book which transforms our understanding of the circumstances in which the memorials were erected during the war itself... He has also shrewdly detected in newspaper reports, and in the copious proceedings of numerous memorial committees, evidence of priorities and expectations, and, of course, the occasional significant quarrel. He is aware that there was a political dimension to this commemorative activity, and also an urgent need to mitigate, or at least to control, the grief of a community, but he justly concludes that something else was also involved.'Times Literary Supplement 'King has written the first thoroughly professional book on British war memorials, a work exemplary both as empirical history and for its reading of the literature on symbolism and ritual.'The Journal of Modern History'King is very good on the new, intense feeling of moral obligation which memorials of the Great War imposed...H(l/c)ere for the first time is an ac

• Introduction1. The Composition of a National Cult2. A Commemorative Tradition and its Application in War3. Talking About War Memorials4. The Choice of a Memorial5. The War Memorial Business6. War Memorial Imagery7. The Canonisation of Common People8. Moral Obligation and Politics in the Commemoration of the Dead9. Sacred UnionConclusionBibliographyIndex

Alex King Cambridge University Library

'Alex King ...has written a book which transforms our understanding of the circumstances in which the memorials were erected during the war itself... He has also shrewdly detected in newspaper reports, and in the copious proceedings of numerous memorial committees, evidence of priorities and expectations, and, of course, the occasional significant quarrel. He is aware that there was a political dimension to this commemorative activity, and also an urgent need to mitigate, or at least to control, the grief of a community, but he justly concludes that something else was also involved.'Times Literary Supplement 'King has written the first thoroughly professional book on British war memorials, a work exemplary both as empirical history and for its reading of the literature on symbolism and ritual.'The Journal of Modern History'King is very good on the new, intense feeling of moral obligation which memorials of the Great War imposed...H(l/c)ere for the first time is an ac

• Introduction1. The Composition of a National Cult2. A Commemorative Tradition and its Application in War3. Talking About War Memorials4. The Choice of a Memorial5. The War Memorial Business6. War Memorial Imagery7. The Canonisation of Common People8. Moral Obligation and Politics in the Commemoration of the Dead9. Sacred UnionConclusionBibliographyIndex