TY - JOUR PY - 2013// TI - Defining soldiers: Britain's military, c.1740-1815 JO - War in history A1 - Linch, Kevin A1 - McCormack, Matthew SP - 144 EP - 159 VL - 20 IS - 2 N2 - This article offers a critique of the methodology of military history. The question of what constitutes a 'soldier' is usually taken for granted, but history of Britain's military between the wars of the 1740s and the end of the Napoleonic Wars suggests that current definitions are inadequate. By focusing on the themes of language, law and citizenship, life cycles, masculinity, and collective identity, this article proposes new ways of thinking about 'the soldier'. In so doing, it suggests that military historians should rethink the relationship between the military and society, and engage further with the methodologies of social and cultural history.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 0968-3445 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0968344512471004 ID - ref1 ER -