Soldiers of Empire
Indian and British Armies in World War II

Barkawi re-imagines the study of war with imperial and multinational armies that fought in Asia in the Second World War.

Tarak Barkawi (Author)

9781316620656, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 27 May 2017

338 pages
22.7 x 15 x 1.8 cm, 0.49 kg

'… Barkawi challenges understandings of soldiers and armies in all contexts, demonstrates the colonial underpinnings of military historiography (and their incorporation in contemporary scholarship), and establishes the central role of empire in shaping the military forces of both the past and today. As such, this book should be essential reading for scholars of military history, (critical) war studies, and global and postcolonial international relations at all levels.' Emil Archambault, International Studies Review

How are soldiers made? Why do they fight? Re-imagining the study of armed forces and society, Barkawi examines the imperial and multinational armies that fought in Asia in the Second World War, especially the British Indian army in the Burma campaign. Going beyond conventional narratives, Barkawi studies soldiers in transnational context, from recruitment and training to combat and memory. Drawing on history, sociology and anthropology, the book critiques the 'Western way of war' from a postcolonial perspective. Barkawi reconceives soldiers as cosmopolitan, their battles irreducible to the national histories that monopolise them. This book will appeal to those interested in the Second World War, armed forces and the British Empire, and students and scholars of military sociology and history, South Asian studies and international relations.

Introduction. Decolonising the soldier
Part I. Colonial Soldiers: 1. Making colonial soldiers in British India
2. Unmaking an imperial army
3. Politics and prisoners in the Indian army
Part II. Going to War: 4. Defeat, drill and discipline
5. Ritual, solidarity and sacrifice
6. Battle
Part III. History and Theory: 7. The experience and representation of combat
8. Cosmopolitan military histories and sociologies.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS], Sociology [JHB], Ethnic minorities & multicultural studies [JFSL1], Second World War [HBWQ], Social & cultural history [HBTB]