Wales in England, 1914-1945: A Social, Cultural, and Military History

by Wendy Ugolini

Overview

At the beginning of the twentieth century, for many English men and women of Welsh origin the idea of being in some part 'Welsh' reaffirmed their own understanding of what it meant to 'be British'. Wales in England, 1914-1945 is the first cultural history of this English Welsh duality - an identification with two constituent nations at once - and explores how 'Welshness' was imagined, performed, and mobilised in England during and between the two world wars. In so doing, and making use of individual English Welsh case studies from the worlds of politics, art, literature, and soldiering, the book provides a wholly new perspective on the social, cultural, and military history of Britain at war. It shows English-Welsh duality to have been an important strand of pluralistic Britishness in wartime, and that this diasporic construction of Welshness held a wide urban appeal with significant implications for military enlistment, cultural production, and commemorative practices in England. Working at the intersection of war studies, British studies, and diaspora studies, Wales in England makes a significant contribution to 'four nations' history and the history of British society at war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198863274
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/24/2024
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.53(h) x 0.79(d)

About the Author

Wendy Ugolini, Senior Lecturer, Modern British History, University of Edinburgh

Wendy Ugolini is an award-winning historian of the Second World War specialising in ethnicities and identity formation. Educated at the universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh, she is a Senior Lecturer in Modern British History at the University of Edinburgh. Her first book, Experiencing War as the 'Enemy Other'. Italian Scottish Experience in World War II was awarded the Royal Historical Society's Gladstone Book Prize. Dr Ugolini's research addresses the relationship between war and identities within modern British society, focusing on dual identifications. She was co-founder of the Second World War Network (Scotland) funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Table of Contents

IntroductionPART ONE: INVENTING AND ENCOUNTERING1. Elite Identities2. Welshburbia: Welshness in the English suburbs3. Narrating and encountering WalesPART TWO: REGIMENTING AND MOBILIZING4. First World War identities5. Second World War identities6. Mourning and MemorializingPART THREE: CREATING AND FAKING7. Imagining Wales from England8. Constructing Wales as a site of solace9. Welshness as MasqueradeConclusion

Editorial Reviews

"The book provides a wholly new perspective on the social, cultural, and military history of Britain at war. It shows English-Welsh duality to have been an important strand of pluralistic Britishness in wartime, and that this diasporic construction of Welshness held a wide urban appeal with significant implications for military enlistment, cultural production, and commemorative practices in England." — Dr. Miranda Melcher, New Books Network

"Ugolini has written a widely researched and sensitively interpreted inquiry into historical, cultural, political, personally emotional, and military identifications of Welshness and Englishness in the first half of the 20th century. Identification as Welsh or English, or both Welsh and English, is shown to have been remarkably complicated and fluid within the context of individuals and groups being British." — A. C. Reeves, CHOICE

From the Publisher