Army, Empire and Film

Fascinating, significant and well-written, this collection on the film history of Victorian warfare offers much to the general reader and also those interested in Empire, War or Film History. Far better than anything else in the field, this book whets the appetite for similar volumes.

Jeremy Black, author of Imperial Legacies

An enjoyable and even exhilarating read: collected here are ten essays by experts, each at the top of their game, and with an esprit de corps worthy of the subject material. The Victorian British army is one of those instantly recognizable settings for cinema, like the London of Sherlock Holmes or Wild West of Billy the Kid. In this book that setting becomes a window on the times depicted and the shifting interpretations of later generations. With attention to the views of victor’s and victims; colonizer and colonized this collection represents the state of the art and is unlikely to be matched for many years to come.

Nicholas J. Cull, co-author of Projecting Empire: Imperialism in Popular Cinema

A fascinating book – Ian Beckett and his contributors review how the cinema of empire has evolved, reflecting changing cultural values, similarities with Westerns, and in parts of the former empire, nation building and national myth making. By juxtaposing histories of imperial film making with concepts from film studies and the detail of historical or literary record, they have produced a fascinating account of films that often had spectacular landscapes, dramatic action and memorable moments.

Edward M. Spiers, Professor Emeritus, University of Leeds

This welcome collection explores the cinematic representation of Britain's 'little wars of empire' from the perspective of both the colonial armed forces and their hitherto overlooked antagonists. Fully embracing the cultural turn in military history, Ian Beckett and his contributors demonstrate how both sides have made highly effective use of the most potent propaganda tool of the twentieth century to create pervasive narratives and images that continue to resonate today. Army, Empire and Film is an important new addition to the growing scholarly interest in the military and its media image.

James Chapman, Professor of Film Studies, University of Leicester (UK), and author of The British at War: Cinema, State and Propaganda, 1939-1945

1. Introduction Ian F.W. Beckett
DOI: 10.47788/HSFJ9287
2. Valleys of Death: Putting the Crimean War on Film Mark Connelly
DOI: 10.47788/AZLE8367
3. Hindi Cinema, the 1857 Mutiny and Representation of the British Empire Kaushik Roy
DOI: 10.47788/PUEW6066
4. ‘Dwarfing the Mightiest, Towering over the Greatest’: Cinematic Representations of the Anglo-Zulu War and Zulu History Ian Knight
DOI: 10.47788/XKUC4263
5. Mr Kipling’s Celluloid Soldiers Ian F.W. Beckett
DOI: 10.47788/TYJR8091
6. One Book and Seven Films: The Four Feathers Rodney Atwood
DOI: 10.47788/UIJZ7888
7. The Four Feathers (2002): A Re-enactor’s Nostalgias Graham Gillmore
DOI: 10.47788/CGCN4933
8. Khartoum: End of A Cinematic Era Christopher Brice
DOI: 10.47788/PCIA1751
9. Dominion Conflicts on Screen Ian F.W. Beckett
DOI: 10.47788/KWDK3619
10. Afrikaans Films on the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902 André Wessels
DOI: 10.47788/GEZH1418

Professor Ian Beckett FRHist S, FSAHR, is Honorary Professor of Military History at the University of Kent, having retired from teaching there in 2015. His books include A British Profession of Arms: The Politics of Command in the Late Victorian Army (2018), and British Military Panoramas: Battle in the Round, 1800–1914 (2022).