Dying for the Nation

'This thoughtful book reminds us that societies interpret mass death on rhetorical, discursive and mnemonic levels, but people also live with its harsh practicalities, as death intersects with lived everyday experience and emotion. This deeply significant book thus has much to teach both historians and a wider readership today.' Twentieth Century British History 'Drawing on cultural histories of death, emotions, and mourning, and on extensive archival research, Noakes (Univ. of Essex, UK) examines how the British government and people responded to the deaths of over 260,000 members of the armed forces and over 60,000 civilians during WW II. She argues that it was crucial for the government to manage mass death in a respectful way so as to maintain the consent of the public and keep morale high, and to encourage citizens to control their emotions and remain stoic even as they faced a total war in which they and their loved ones were the targets. There are somber chapters on how civilians and soldiers died (crushed or eviscerated by bombs, burned in tanks, frozen in Arctic waters), were buried and mourned, and how the dead work[ed] for the nation as symbols of shared sacrifice and unity. When this people's war ended, the emphasis was on looking ahead, not back, and on creating a better world rather than grand monuments for the dead. This perceptive study of wartime death, grief, and bereavement will be welcomed by students of WW II, Great Britain, and nationalism. --A. H. Plunkett, Piedmont Virginia Community College Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. Reprinted with permission from Choice Reviews. All rights reserved. Copyright by the American Library Association. -- .