Depictions and images of war in Edwardian newspapers, 1899-1914 /

This little book with a powerful thesis examines early-20th-century journalism's role in disseminating "vicarious experiences of war" in six contemporary wars. It was an era when crackpot eugenics penetrated realpolitik: war was no longer merely Clausewitz's extension of politics, but a device for a social-Darwinian strategy for national and individual regeneration. Tropes of sport, spectacle, theatre, and romantic heroism obscured the reality that war is always hell. Taken together, these themes constitute a romanticization and glorification made possible by the "denial" of, and "distancing" from, the realities of war. Watkinson's thesis is that these strategies constructed positive images of war and the military that contributed to the origins of WW I. No mere academic exercise in decoding historical attitudes, the book does not shirk from relating past lessons to the representation of current crises by video games, media hype, and Hollywood's cinematographic skills that render visual authenticity and experiential charade. Wilkinson (Mount Royal College, Alberta, Canada) urges readers to be suspicious of the allures of "vicarious violence" and to "search earnestly for alternative solutions wherever possible." This is all done in less than 200 well-written, illustrated, and densely footnoted pages supported by an excellent bibliography. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. B. Osborne Queen's University at Kingston