The British cultural history of the Gallipoli campaign has been
overlooked until now - this is a significant book as it offers the first
real opportunity for this important campaign to be included in
undergraduate courses on WWI. The commemoration of war is a particularly
vibrant area of study - Anzac Day, commemorating the landings that began
the Gallipoli campaign, is central to Australian national consciousness
and this book examines why. A crucial argument in the cultural history
of the First World War was sparked by Paul Fussell's contention that the
war signified a profound cultural rupture; in widening the debate from
the Western Front, this book supports the counter argument that romantic
modes of expression retained resonance and utility. In Australia, the
renewal of the story of Gallipoli by historians and film-makers (notably
Peter Weir's 1981 film starring Mel Gibson) has profoundly altered the
national sense of identity and society's perceptions of the armed
forces;
the authors explains how the writing of this particular event has
developed and achieved this central position. An essential volume for
those interested in British military and Australian history,
postcolonialism and nation building, from academics and students through
to the general reader.
