| Popis: |
This Introduction outlines the rationale and parameters of the monograph, focusing on ‘Western Anglicanism’ and the historical, ethical, and cultural roots of Anglicanism’s pre-eminent place in the armed forces of the English-speaking world. It considers Anglican approaches to the just war, Anglican attitudes towards the state, and Anglican understandings of empire. It then examines the dramatic impact of secularization in the latter decades of the twentieth century and considers the experience of twentieth-century conflict as one of its drivers, showing how (rather than either of the two World Wars) the nuclear threat and the Vietnam War bred widespread mistrust of military institutions and fuelled a misleading but highly influential narrative on the culpable role played by the Church of England in the First World War. It concludes with a survey of the ensuing chapters, summarizing the principal arguments of each. |
