This pioneering 2006 volume addresses the question of how Britain's empire was lived through everyday practices - in church and chapel, by readers at home, as embodied in sexualities or forms of citizenship, as narrated in histories - from the eighteenth century to the present. Leading historians explore the imperial experience and legacy for those located, physically or imaginatively, 'at home, ' from the impact of empire on constructions of womanhood, masculinity and class to its influence in shaping literature, sexuality, visual culture, consumption and history-writing. They assess how people thought imperially, not in the sense of political affiliations for or against empire, but simply assuming it was there, part of the given world that had made them who they were. They also show how empire became a contentious focus of attention at certain moments and in particular ways. This will be essential reading for scholars and students of modern Britain and its empire

What did it mean to be British during the 'People's War'? Professor Rose uses material from newspapers, diaries, novels and letters to examine popular notions of citizenship on the home front. She shows that what we now mean by 'identity politics' was alive and well in the 1940s and that any singular conception of 'Britishness' was extremely fragile.

This pioneering 2006 volume addresses the question of how Britain's empire was lived through everyday practices - in church and chapel, by readers at home, as embodied in sexualities or forms of citizenship, as narrated in histories - from the eighteenth century to the present. Leading historians explore the imperial experience and legacy for those located, physically or imaginatively, 'at home,' from the impact of empire on constructions of womanhood, masculinity and class to its influence in shaping literature, sexuality, visual culture, consumption and history-writing. They assess how people thought imperially, not in the sense of political affiliations for or against empire, but simply assuming it was there, part of the given world that had made them who they were. They also show how empire became a contentious focus of attention at certain moments and in particular ways. This will be essential reading for scholars and students of modern Britain and its empire.

Which People's War? examines how national belonging, or British national identity, was envisaged in the public culture of the World War II home front. Using materials from newspapers, magazines, films, novels, diaries, letters, and all sorts of public documents, it explores such questions as: who was included as 'British' and what did it mean to be British? How did the British describe themselves as a singular people, and what were the consequences of those depictions? It also examines the several meanings of citizenship elaborated in various discussions concerning the British nation at war. This investigation of the powerful constructions of national identity and understandings of citizenship circulating in Britain during the Second World War exposes their multiple and contradictory consequences at the time. It reveals the fragility of any singular conception of 'Britishness' even during a war that involved the total mobilization of the country's citizenry and cost 400,000 British civilian lives.

To date, the history of military and war has focused predominantly on men as historical agents, disregarding gender and its complex interrelationships with war and the military. The Oxford Handbook of Gender, War, and the Western World since 1600 investigates how conceptions of gender have contributed to the shaping of war and the military and were transformed by them. Covering the major periods in warfare since the seventeenth century, the Handbook focuses on Europe and the long-term processes of colonization and empire-building in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia. Thirty-two essays written by leading international scholars explore the cultural representations of war and the military, war mobilization, and war experiences at home and on the battle front. Essays address the gendered aftermath and memories of war, as well as gendered war violence. Essays also examine movements to regulate and prevent warfare, the consequences of participation in the military for citizenship, and challenges to ideals of Western military masculinity posed by female, gay, and lesbian soldiers and colonial soldiers of color. The Oxford Handbook of Gender, War, and the Western World since 1600 Roffers an authoritative account of the intricate relationships between gender, warfare, and military culture across time and space.

Gender figured significantly in the industrial, social, and political transformations of the United Kingdom and Ireland, France, Germany, and Russia. This book explores its importance during a period of radical change for the working classes, from 1800 through the 1930s. Collectively, the authors demonstrate how the study of gender can lead to a new understanding of working class history. The authors-leading historians, sociologists, and feminist scholars ask how gender meanings and relations shaped and were shaped by transformations in areas ranging from the Irish linen industry to German social policy, from the French labor movement to Britain's interracial settlements. With special attention to the importance of language and culture in social life, they show how political identities are constituted and social categories created, contested, and changed-and how gender plays a central role in this process. Contributors: Kathleen Canning, University of Michigan; Helen Harden Chenut, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris; Anna Clark, University of North Carolina, Charlotte; Judy Coffin, University of Texas, Austin; Jane Gray, St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, Republic ofireland; Tessie P. Llu, Northwestern University; Judith F. Stone, Western Michigan University; Laura Tabili, University of Arizona; Eric D. Weitz, St. Olaf College; Elizabeth A. Wood, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In the massive reorganization of lives and livelihoods that accompanied industrial capitalism in England, gender was a pivotal force. Through her analysis of industries ranging from metalworking and lacemaking to the manufacture of chocolate, Sonya Rose highlights the ways in which gender distinctions and gender relations influenced the development of capitalism.