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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. In this, the third volume of Empire and Popular Culture, documents are presented that shed light on three principal themes: The shaping of personal. collective and national identities of British citizens by the Empire; the commemoration of individuals and collective groups who were noted for their roles in Empire building; and finally, the way in which the Empire entered popular culture by means of trade with the Empire and the goods that were imported.
"I am immensely impressed . . . this particular Brigade needed a book of its own and now it has one which is definitely first-rate. . . . A fine book." —Bruce Catton "One of the '100 best books ever written on the Civil War.'" —Civil War Times Illustrated " . . . remains one of the best unit histories of the Union Army during the Civil War." —Southern Historian ". . . The Iron Brigade is the title for anyone desiring complete information on this military unit . . ." —Spring Creek Packet, Chuck Hamsa This is the story of the most famous unit in the Union Army, the only all-Western brigade in the Eastern armies of the Union—made up of troops from Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
THE LINCOLN BRIGADE The day after Christmas in 1936, a group of ninety-six Americans sailed from New York to help Spain defend its democratic government against fascism. Ultimately, twenty-eight hundred United States volunteers reached Spain to become the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Few Lincolns had any military training. More than half were seriously wounded or died in battle. Most Lincolns were activists and idealists who had worked with and demonstrated for the homeless and unemployed during the Great Depression. They were poets and blue-collar workers, professors and students, seamen and journalists, lawyers and painters, Christians and Jews, blacks and whites. The Brigade was the first fully integrated United States army, and Oliver Law, an African American from Texas, was an early Lincoln commander. William Loren Katz and the late Marc Crawford twice traveled with the Brigade to Spain in the 1980s, interviewed surviving Lincolns on old battlefields, and obtained never-before-published documents and photographs for this book.
The Series, 'From Boys' Brigade to Brigadier', spans Allan A. Murray's career in the Australian Army from 1978 through to 2017. His interest in the military in his teenage years was, in part, driven by participation in the youth movement known as the Boys' Brigade. In Allan's subsequent Army career, he progressed from a Recruit in the Citizen Military Force to a commissioned Officer in the Australian Regular Army then reached the rank of Brigadier, One Star rank, in the Army Reserve. The Series is a collection of stories, anecdotes and remembrances of people and events drawn from four years at the Royal Military College-Duntroon (Book 1); service towards the end of the Cold War (Books 2 and 3); United Nations service as a Peacekeeper in the Middle East (Book 4); supporting the lead-up to Australia's involvement in East Timor (Book 5); and concluding with years in senior, leadership appointments (Book 6). The stories reflect Australia's transition from Cold War engagements to a focus on defence of Australia and then back to expeditionary deployments. This first book in the Series covers the period during Allan's career in the Australian Army associated with Officer training. It is not a history of the Royal Military College, nor a history of the Corps of Staff Cadets. It is the story of Allan's experience as a Staff Cadet within one of the companies of the Corps of Staff Cadets in the 1970s and 80s. Allan has written about Duntroon at a time when Staff Cadets were required to be single and live-in the provided accommodation blocks. Mostly for four years, but for some it was five years. Allan's experience with a group of young men, aspiring to be commissioned Army Officers, training to be leaders, is the subject of this book; including bishing, bogging and bastardisation. Allan started writing this book in 1978. Parts of it were written whilst he was a Staff Cadet and much, on a regular basis, in the years between then and now. In January 1998 he wrote that ... "I have found stories about the experiences of Staff Cadets are generally of a reminiscing genre, hence they project a more mature, if not mellowed, perspective." In this book he has tried to overcome this, hence some bits are raw, even naive. Some of the subjects Allan covers are not pleasant. Comparisons between life in the Corps before 1983 and 'Lord of the Flies' are not unreasonable. Allan has chosen to be descriptive and minimized being judgemental in hindsight. Others can do that. During the years of occasionally recording his thoughts on life and events as they occurred in the Corps, Allan adopted an anthropological style and wrote distinct subject related pieces. Looking back now, these pieces offer the raw thoughts of a young man on the events of a society that engulfed him, often perplexingly, in the years between 1979 and 1983. As one reader noted, this book ... "is a vivid record of the good and ill of Duntroon".
