Scotland and the First World War

‌Scotland and the First World War: Myth, Memory and the Legacy of Bannockburn is a new interdisciplinary collection of essays edited by Professor Gill Plain and published by Bucknell University Press.

The book explores the martial myths that shaped Scottish identity from the aftermath of Bannockburn to the close of the 19th century, and asks why so many Scottish soldiers signed up to fight in the First World War. What motivated these men, how were they represented, and what did they think they were fighting for?

At the heart of the collection is an interrogation of what might be termed 'anniversary culture' – the events and people that societies remember and those they choose to forget – and the project emerges from a colloquium held in the School of English to mark the convergent anniversaries of the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 and the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.

Featuring essays by experts from the fields of literature, history and cultural studies, including the School's Professor Robert Crawford and Dr Peter MacKay, Scotland and the First World War examines how Scotland remembers war, and how remembering war has shaped Scotland.