Dismembering the Male

Joanna Bourke, winner of the 1998 Fraenkel Prize in History, also wrote "Working Class Cultures in Britain, 1890-1960".

Based on letters, diaries and oral histories, this title explores the impact of the ‘war to end all wars’ on the male body. It argues that military experiences led to a greater sharing of gender identities between men of different classes and ages.

That notions of femininity were seriously disrupted during the First World War has become obvious in recent years. But what happened to masculinity at the same time? Based on letters, diaries and oral histories, Dismembering the Male explores the impact of the ‘war to end all wars’ on the male body.

Joanna Bourke argues convincingly that military experiences led to a greater sharing of gender identities between men of different classes and ages. She concludes that attempts to construct a new type of masculinity failed as the threat of another war, and with it the sacrifice of a new generation of men, intensified.