Product Description

Memorials to Australian participation in wars abound in our landscape, but they have largely escaped scrutiny. This study argues that the imagery, rituals, and rhetoric generated around memorials constitute a civil religion, a cult of Anzac. Sacred Places traces three elements which converged to create the cult: the special place of war in the European mind when nationalism was at its zenith; the colonial condition; and the death of so many young men in distant battle, which impelled the bereaved to make substitutes for the graves of which history had deprived them. This analysis spans war, religion, politics, language, and the visual arts.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2019408 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-04
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 542 pages

Synopsis
This magnificently produced and beautifully written book is the product of a lifetime's thought and research by master social historian Ken Inglis. After Gallipoli, on a scale unknown anywhere else in the world, Australia embarked on a massive program of war memorial construction. The memorials became the holy sites of a new civil and nationalist religion - the cult of Anzac. In this comprehensive and fascinating analysis, Inglis traces the development of the cult and its social origins and implications, as well as looking at those who rejected it.

About the Author
K. S. Inglis is one of Australia's most esteemed historians. He has been a professor of history at the Australian National University and the University of Papua New Guinea, where he was also the vice-chancellor. He lives in Canberra, Australia.