British Military Spectacle : From the Napoleonic Wars Through the Crimea / Scott Hughes Myerly.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Myerly, Scott Hughes, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Aesthetics, British.

Crimean War, 1853-1856.

Guerre de Crimée, 1853-1856.

Guerres napoléoniennes, 1800-1815.

Krijgsmacht.

Militaire uniformen.

Militarisme.

Militär.

Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815.

Rites and ceremonies.

Spectaculaire.

Spectacular, The.

Uniform.

HISTORY / General.

HISTORY / Military / Other.

HISTORY / Modern / 19th Century.

Rites and ceremonies--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Local Subjects:

HISTORY / General.

HISTORY / Military / Other.

HISTORY / Modern / 19th Century.

Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815.

Rites and ceremonies--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (303 p.)

Edition:

Reprint 2014

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2014]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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. 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. 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. Encouraging recruitment, enforcing discipline within the military, and boosting morale were essential but not the only functions of martial dress. 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. 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.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

Introduction: Army Life

CHAPTER ONE. The Spectacular Image

CHAPTER TWO. Command and Design

CHAPTER THREE. Recruiting

CHAPTER FOUR. Discipline

CHAPTER FIVE. Morale

CHAPTER SIX. Campaign and Combat

CHAPTER SEVEN. Civil Disorder

CHAPTER EIGHT. Entertainment, Power, and Paradigm

Conclusion: The Martial Vision

BIBLIOGRAPHY NOTES ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INDEX

BIBLIOGRAPHY

NOTES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INDEX

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Mai 2019)

ISBN:

0-674-18260-X

OCLC:

1013942620