Sacred and Secular Martyrdom in Britain and Ireland since 1914

During and immediately after the First World War, there was a merging of Christian and nationalist traditions of martyrdom, expressed in the design of war cemeteries and war memorials, and the state funeral of the Unknown Warrior in 1920. John Wolffe explores the subsequent development of these traditions of 'sacred' and 'secular' martyrdom, analysing the ways in which they operated - sometimes in parallel, sometimes merged together and sometimes in conflict with each other.

Particular topics explored include the Protestant commemoration of Marian and missionary martyrs, and the Roman Catholic campaign for the canonization of the 'saints and martyrs of England'. Secular martyrdom is discussed in relation to military conflicts especially the Second World War and the Falklands. In Ireland there was a particularly persistent merging of sacred and secular martyrdom in the wake of the Easter Rising of 1916 although by the time of the Northern Ireland 'Troubles' in the later twentieth-century these traditions diverged. In covering these themes, the book also offers historical and comparative context for understanding present-day acts of martyrdom in the form of suicide attacks.

“This is a lucid, engaging and fascinating account of sacred and secular martyrdom in Britain and Ireland since the outbreak of the First World War. Drawing on a wide range of original material, Wolffe sheds fresh light on the contested and malleable nature of Martyrdom. This timely book raises significant questions about how martyrs are created, remembered and debated over” —Jolyon Mitchell, Professor of Communications, Arts and Religion, University of Edinburgh, UK

“Compelling and well-written, this book traces the fading away of a very old idea – that that those who die for a cause are martyrs. Tracing the fragmentation of British society since the 1960s and the turn away from civil war in Ireland North and South from the 1980s, Wolffe has produced a powerful study of the evolution of the sacred in political language over the last century. There is no book like it in the field of social and cultural history.” —Jay Winter, Charles J. Stille Professor of History Emeritus, Yale University, USA