Volunteers on the Veld

Volunteers on the Veld
Author: Stephen M. Miller
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2007
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780806138640

This book spotlights Britain's “citizen army” to show who these volunteers were, why they enlisted, how they were trained—and how they quickly became disillusioned when they found themselves committed not to the supposed glories of conventional battle but instead to a prolonged guerrilla war.

War Volunteering in Modern Times

War Volunteering in Modern Times
Author: C. G. Krüger
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2010-12-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 0230290523

Exploring volunteering as a characteristic of modern wars, this book examines why individuals go to war. It studies the motivations, social backgrounds and military experiences of war volunteers in a wide range of conflicts since the French Revolution, and helps to interpret the relationship between war and society in modern times.

Real War Horses

Real War Horses
Author: Anthony Dawson
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2016-10-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1473847109

Many histories have been written about the conflicts the British army was involved in between the Battle of Waterloo and the First World War. There are detailed studies of campaigns and battles and general accounts of the experiences of the soldiers. But this book by Anthony Dawson is the first to concentrate in depth, in graphic detail, on the experiences of the British cavalry during a century of warfare. That is why it is of such value. It is also compelling reading because it describes, using the words of the cavalrymen of the time, the organization, routines, training and social life of the cavalry as well as the fear and exhilaration of cavalry actions. Perhaps the most memorable passages record the drama and excitement of cavalry charges and the brutal, confused, often lethal experience of close-quarter combat in a melee of men and horses. Few books give such a direct inside view of what it was like to serve in the British cavalry during the nineteenth century.

Citizen Soldiers and the British Empire, 1837–1902

Citizen Soldiers and the British Empire, 1837–1902
Author: Ian F W Beckett
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2015-10-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 1317322177

The British amateur military tradition of raising auxiliary forces for home defence long preceded the establishment of a standing army. This was a model that was widely emulated in British colonies. This volume of essays seeks to examine the role of citizen soldiers in Britain and its empire during the Victorian period.

Empire and Popular Culture

Empire and Popular Culture
Author: John Griffiths
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 949
Release: 2022-07-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1351035290

From 1830, if not before, the Empire began to permeate the domestic culture of Empire nations in many ways. From consumables, to the excitement of colonial wars, celebrations relating to events in the history of Empire, and the construction of Empire Day in the early Edwardian period, most citizens were encouraged to think of themselves not only as citizens of a nation but of an Empire. Much of the popular culture of the period presented Empire as a force for ‘civilisation’ but it was often far from the truth and rather, Empire was a repressive mechanism designed ultimately to benefit white settlers and the metropolitan economy. This four volume collection on Empire and Popular Culture contains a wide array of primary sources, complimented by editorial narratives which help the reader to understand the significance of the documents contained therein. It is informed by the recent advocacy of a ‘four-nation’ approach to Empire containing documents which view Empire from the perspective of England, Scotland Ireland and Wales and will also contain material produced for Empire audiences, as well as indigenous perspectives. The sources reveal both the celebratory and the notorious sides of Empire.

Volunteers on the Veld, 12

Volunteers on the Veld, 12
Author: Stephen M. Miller
Publisher:
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2021-07-08
Genre:
ISBN: 9780806169088

This book spotlights Britain's "citizen army" to show who these volunteers were, why they enlisted, how they were trained--and how they quickly became disillusioned when they found themselves committed not to the supposed glories of conventional battle but instead to a prolonged guerrilla war.

The Yeomanry Cavalry and Military Identities in Rural Britain, 1815–1914

The Yeomanry Cavalry and Military Identities in Rural Britain, 1815–1914
Author: George Hay
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2017-11-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 3319655396

This volume represents the first dedicated study of the British Yeomanry Cavalry, delving into the institution’s history from the cessation of hostilities with France in 1815 through to the eve of the First World War in 1914. This social history explores the Yeomanry’s composition and place within British society, as well as its controversial role in policing before and after Peterloo, and its unique contribution to the war in South Africa. Overturning or challenging many enduring myths and accepted truths, this book breaks new ground not just in our understanding of the Yeomanry, but the wider amateur military tradition.

Remembering the South African War

Remembering the South African War
Author: Peter McIntosh Donaldson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 205
Release: 2013
Genre: History
ISBN: 1846319684

Fostered by an increasingly literate public and burgeoning populist press, the South African War—which ended the lives of many volunteer British soldiers—would catalyze a transition in British commemorative practice, foreshadowing the rituals of remembrance that engulfed Britain in the aftermath of the First World War. In this book, Peter Donaldson provides the first comprehensive look at how the British remembered the South African War and its fighters. He situates memorialization within larger Edwardian Britain, examining everything from the committees who managed memorials to the financing that supported them to the aesthetic debates that determined their forms. Through his comprehensive study of the remembrance of this single war, Donaldson illuminates the ways Britain has gone about managing history—and its sense of self within it—ever since.

The British Empire [2 volumes]

The British Empire [2 volumes]
Author: Mark Doyle
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 579
Release: 2018-06-29
Genre: History
ISBN:

An essential starting point for anyone wanting to learn about life in the largest empire in history, this two-volume work encapsulates the imperial experience from the 16th–21st centuries. From early sixteenth-century explorations to the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, the British Empire controlled outposts on every continent, spreading its people and ideas across the globe and profiting mightily in the process. The present state of our world—from its increasing interconnectedness to its vast inequalities and from the successful democracies of North America to the troubled regimes of Africa and the Middle East—can be traced, in large part, to the way in which Great Britain expanded and controlled its empire. The British Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia addresses a broader range of topics than do most other surveys of the empire, covering not only major political and military developments but also topics that have only recently come to serious scholarly attention, such as women's and gender history, art and architecture, indigenous histories and perspectives, and the construction of colonial knowledge and ideologies. By going beyond the "headline" events of the British Empire, this captivating work communicates the British imperial experience in its totality.

As political soldiers we face Moscow’s hordes: Dutch volunteers in the Waffen-SS

As political soldiers we face Moscow’s hordes: Dutch volunteers in the Waffen-SS
Author: Evertjan van Roekel
Publisher: Vernon Press
Total Pages: 396
Release: 2022-01-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 1648893341

During the Second World War, approximately 25,000 Dutchmen served within the ranks of the military branch of the German SS: the Waffen-SS. They volunteered to fight to secure the victory of Nazi Germany. These Dutch volunteers fought mainly on the Eastern Front, and to a lesser extent, within their own national borders. After the war, the Allied victors regarded them as part of a criminal organization and jointly responsible for the atrocious transgressions of the Nazi regime. In the Netherlands, these men were reviled, branded as traitors and became pariahs in their own country. Those who had devoted themselves to the Nazi regime caused so much grief to the Netherlands that they had to be held accountable. Despite their military achievements, their reputation was damaged forever. The Netherlands supplied the largest contingent of SS soldiers from the occupied North-western European territories. Who were these people? What led them to enlist, and what were the consequences of their choice? An important part of this study involves the autobiographical texts of nineteen Dutch volunteers in the Waffen-SS. These ego-documents recount their own immediate experiences and are mainly fragments from diaries, but there are also letters, individual notes, and memoirs. The ego-documents are placed within the larger historical context to provide an answer to the question of whether these men were only ideologically motivated and unconditional Nazi sympathizers, and for this, their criminal records are also researched. Among other topics, the book discusses their choice to enlist, their experiences at the front, and their involvement in genocide, providing a new perspective on the Eastern Front.