For King and Country

Heather Jones is Professor of Modern and Contemporary European History at University College London. An expert on the First World War, her previous publications include Violence against Prisoners of War in the First World War: Britain, France and Germany, 1914–1920 (2011). She is a former Max Weber Fellow of the European University Institute and has been awarded the Irish Research Council's Eda Sagarra Gold Medal.

• Introduction; Prelude: The monarchy and wartime political power. Part I. The role of the British monarchy in cultural mobilisation for war: 1. Monarchist mentalities and British mobilisation, 1914–1916; 2. Monarchist culture and combatant practices. Part II. The emperor's new clothes: Changing cultures of deference: 3. The royal body in wartime; 4. De-sacralisation discourses – challenges to the monarchy's status, 1916–1918. Part III. The unknown soldier: The role of the monarchy in post-war commemoration; 5. The monarchy and the armistice: Ritualising victory, channelling war grief; 6. The monarchy's role in sacralising post-war commemoration; Conclusion.

'Heather Jones's engaging and insightful book makes a persuasive argument about the importance of the First World War in the British monarchy's evolving role and image. Through skilful analysis of an impressively broad range of archival sources, Jones shows how archaic associations of the Crown with the concepts of honour, duty, religion and service took on a new resonance during four years of disruptive and destructive conflict.' Alison Fell, author of Women as Veterans in Britain and France after the First World War