British military spectacle crossword5/26/2023 This is an original and fascinating discussion of a critical yet subtle subject heretofore completely overlooked by scholars of war history. The abundance of fascinating detail alone makes this an attractive study to anyone remotely interested in the British military in particular or British culture in general. Myerly has consulted a very wide range of materials, judiciously using secondary sources and drawing a wealth of information from primary sources. The book is well written the research is excellent. Dress, drills, parades, inspections, pomp, and order: as this richly illustrated book conducts us through the details of the creation, design, functions, and meaning of these aspects of the martial image, it exposes the underpinnings of a mentality-and vision-that extends far beyond the military subculture into the civic and social order that we call modernity. Myerly also explores the role of the resplendent uniform and its associated gaudy trappings and customs during civil peace and disorder-whether employed as public relations through spectacular free entertainment, or imitated by rioters and rebels opposing the status quo. Plumbing a wide variety of military sources, most tellingly the memoirs and letters of soldiers and civilians, Scott Hughes Myerly reveals how these ornate sartorial creations, combining symbols of solidarity and inspiration, vivid color, and physical restraint, enhanced the managerial effects of rigid discipline, drill, and torturous punishments, but also helped foster regimental esprit de corps.Įncouraging recruitment, enforcing discipline within the military, and boosting morale were essential but not the only functions of martial dress. Often ridiculed for their constrictive splendor, British army uniforms of the early nineteenth century nonetheless played a powerful role in the troops' performance on campaign, in battle, and as dramatic entertainment in peacetime. In the theater of war, how important is costume? And in peacetime, what purpose does military spectacle serve? This book takes us behind the scenes of the British military at the height of its brilliance to show us how dress and discipline helped to mold the military man and attempted to seduce the hearts and minds of a nation while serving to intimidate civil rioters in peacetime.
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