Great War, Memory & Ritual:Commemoration in City & East London

[KateJ]

This looks to be a good but expensive book

The Great War, Memory and Ritual: Commemoration in the City and East London, 1916-1939 (Royal Historical Society Studies in History) by Mark Connelly

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0...4643925-0195868

Has any one read it? Is it worth buying?

Kate

[Steven Broomfield]

Kate. Not read it, but the reviews I saw a couple of years ago looked very good. I did put it on my burthday list, but to no avail.

If anyone out there has read it, I'd be interested to know, too.

[Clive Maier]

I have this book. It is expensive but I was lucky enough to find one in absolutely mint condition on abebooks. It was a review copy with the pages barely opened if at all, and I think I paid no more than £25. There is nothing affordable on abebooks as I write this.

The book is based on Dr Connelly’s doctoral thesis. It is a ‘revisionist’ work to some extent, inasmuch as it holds that ‘futile waste’ was not the prevailing sentiment in the time of memorialisation. The book is in two parts. The first, The Iconography of War Memorials, deals with the different types of memorial – religious, civic, workplace, school, club – and looks at matters such as organisation and funding. It is good on the neglected subject of war shrines. The second part of the book is concerned with remembrance in the inter-war years with particular reference to Armistice Day. The book is very nicely produced to high standards but has few illustrations. There is an excellent bibliography and an index of war memorials in the territory covered by the book. There are references and notes throughout the text, so the book is very useful as a guide to further study and research. Although the book is academic in style, the writing is particularly lucid and readable.

I feel the book will not be worth the price to a Great War generalist but for anyone with a particular interest in the British experience of memorialisation and remembrance, or a research interest in the East End and City of London, I can strongly recommend it.

[KateJ]

I feel the book will not be worth the price to a Great War generalist but for anyone with a particular interest in the British experience of memorialisation and remembrance, or a research interest in the East End and City of London, I can strongly recommend it.

Thanks Clive.

Hmm - sounds just the right book for me! I have research interest in the East End/City of London and am starting to get very interested in memorialisation and remembrance.

Shame the cheapest one on abebooks is the same full price as the amazon one!

Kate

[Clive Maier]

Kate,

I looked at abebooks on and off for the best part of two years before I got lucky. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

There is always the library. The book is in the British Library, the National Library of Scotland and the National Library of Wales. I don’t know where you are located but within London, the book is in the libraries of City, Hillingdon, Lewisham, Newham and Tower Hamlets. It is also in 13 university libraries which as a student you may well be able to get at. The original thesis is in the British Library and the University of London library.

[swizz]

Kate,

If that's your area of interest you would probably enjoy it but it is expensive. If you can get hold of a library copy at least you could check it out before making the investment!

I would agree that the section on war shrines is quite good - its the bit that sticks out in my memory. I also remember that there was a section on commemoration amongst Jews in the area which wasn't a subject I had read about before. From what I can recall it wasn't too academic in tone although as Clive points out the referencing is pretty comprehensive - if you're interested in the general topic of remembrance and commemoration it would be a good place to start!

Swizz