God and the British Soldier : Religion and the British Army in the First and Second World Wars

ISBN-13: 9780415196772 / Angielski / Twarda / 2005 / 336 str.

M. F. Snape

Opis

Historians of the First and Second World Wars have consistently underestimated the importance of religion in Britain during the war years. Through a study of the experience of the officers and men of Britain's vast citizen armies, and also of the numerous religious agencies which ministered to them, this book shows that religion had much greater currency and influence in twentieth-century British society than has previously been realized.
Drawing on a wealth of new material from military, ecclesiastical and secular civilian archives, Snape argues that religion provided a key component of military morale and national identity in both the First and Second World Wars, and demonstrates that, contrary to accepted wisdom, Britain's popular religious culture emerged intact and even strengthened as a result of the army's experiences of war.