Writing Veterans' History: A Conversation on the Twentieth Century. (3rd April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Huxford, Grace; Alcalde, Ángel; Baines, Gary; Burtin, Olivier; Edele, Mark
• Is Part Of: War & society. Volume 38:Number 2(2019)
• Page Start: 115
• Page End: 138
• Publication Date: 2019-04-03
• Subjects: veteran -- associations -- brutalisation -- victimhood -- agency -- memory; War and society -- Periodicals; 303.6605
• DOI: 10.1080/07292473.2019.1566978
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0729-2473

Abstract

Abstract : This article is a conversation between five specialists of veterans' history on the current direction of the field and its importance to the study of war and society. The discussants offer an an overview of current methodologies, definitions and historiographical approaches. Concentrating on the experiences of twentieth-century veterans (particularly after 1945) and using a diverse range of case studies from across the world, this article also asks what connections bound veteran communities together, and how we as historians might conceptualise veterans: as a class, as a collective, or as a far looser grouping of individuals? Finally, this article explores what distinguishes veteranhood after 1945 and the evolving relationship between veterans and the memory of conflict.