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Men in Reserve

British Civilian Masculinities in the Second World War

Arthur McIvor author Juliette Pattinson author Linsey Robb author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Manchester University Press

Published:6th Jan '17

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Men in Reserve cover

Men in reserve focuses on working class civilian men who, as a result of working in reserved occupations, were exempt from enlistment in the armed forces. It uses fifty six newly conducted oral history interviews as well as autobiographies, visual sources and existing archived interviews to explore how this group articulated their wartime experiences and how they positioned themselves in relation to the hegemonic discourse of military masculinity. It considers the range of masculine identities circulating amongst civilian male workers during the war and investigates the extent to which reserved workers draw upon these identities when recalling their wartime selves. It argues that the Second World War was capable of challenging civilian masculinities, positioning the civilian man below that of the 'soldier hero' while, simultaneously, reinforcing them by bolstering the capacity to provide and to earn high wages, frequently in risky and dangerous work, all which were key markers of masculinity.

‘This well-researched volume belongs in all WW II collections.’
J. R. Breihan, Loyola University Maryland, Choice, September 2017

ISBN: 9781526100696

Dimensions: 216mm x 138mm x 22mm

Weight: 608g

400 pages