Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Edith Cavell and her Legend

  • Book
  • © 2019

Overview

Authors:
  1. Christine E. Hallett

    1. Professor of History, The University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Addresses the ways in which successive generations have attempted to understand the life, work and execution of civilian nurse, Edith Cavell
  • Challenges existing propagandist representations depicting Cavell as either a heroine or a martyr
  • Offers an overarching perspective on the ways in which Cavell has been mythologised in popular culture and memory

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 44.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (5 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-ix
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction: Faces of Edith Cavell

    • Christine E. Hallett
    Pages 1-5

  3. Edith Cavell: Her Life and Her Death

    • Christine E. Hallett
    Pages 7-38

  4. Interleaving Stories

    • Christine E. Hallett
    Pages 39-79

  5. Legend

    • Christine E. Hallett
    Pages 81-114

  6. Conclusion

    • Christine E. Hallett
    Pages 115-119

  7. Back Matter

    Pages 121-137
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

This book examines the myriad identities and portrayals of Edith Cavell, as they have been constructed and handed down by propagandists, biographers and artists.  Cavell was first introduced to the British public through a series of Foreign Office statements which claimed to establish the “facts” of her case.  Her own voice, along with those of her family, colleagues and friends, were muted, as a monolithic image of a national heroine and martyr emerged.  The book identifies two main areas of tension in her commemoration: firstly, the contrast between complexity of her own behaviour and motivations and the simplicity of the “Cavell Legend” that was constructed around her; and, secondly, the mismatch between the attempts of individuals and professional organisations to commemorate her life and work, and the public construction of a “heroine” who could be of value to the nation state.   

Authors and Affiliations

  • Professor of History, The University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK

    Christine E. Hallett

About the author

Christine E Hallett is Professor of History at the University of Huddersfield, UK.  She is Chair of the UK Association for the History of Nursing, and President of the European Association for the History of Nursing.  Her most recent work has focussed on the practice of nurses during the First World War, and she has published four monographs, including Nurse Writers of the Great War (2016).   

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Edith Cavell and her Legend

  • Authors: Christine E. Hallett

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54371-4

  • Publisher: Palgrave Pivot London

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-54370-7Published: 05 December 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-54371-4Published: 23 November 2018

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: IX, 137

  • Number of Illustrations: 3 b/w illustrations, 2 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Social History, History of Britain and Ireland, History of Military, Cultural History, Women's Studies

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation