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War Memorialised: How the UK remembers its wars and its dead

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

War memorials serve as reminders of heroism, sacrifice and an official/acceptable national past. In the case of the UK, militarism and military romanticism, as well as the existence of an imperialist past (and present), determine how memories of war and its dead are made. The chapter explores the role of national myths and state-sponsored patriotic narratives in historical framing: in how the nation’s virtues, triumphs and past moral victories are repeated now. A sanitised national history provides a usable, exclusive heroism, and at the same time establishes which casualties are remembered or memorialised, and which are not. The author uses the research, findings and database of the NGO Iraq Body Count.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Role of Memory in War Politics and Post-Conflict Reconciliation
Subtitle of host publicationHistorical Memory in Crisis
Place of PublicationNew York
PublisherRoutledge Taylor & Francis Group
Chapter1
Pages9-23
Number of pages15
ISBN (Print)9781041093398
Publication statusPublished (VoR) - 9 Mar 2026

Publication series

NameInnovations in International Affairs
PublisherRoutledge

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