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The British Soldier and his Libraries, c. 1822-1901

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  • © 2016

Overview

Authors:
  1. Sharon Murphy

    1. St. Patrick’s Campus, Dublin City University, Drumcondra, Dublin 9, Ireland

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  • Provides an account of the official provision of libraries to both East India Company soldiers in India and Crown forces during the 1800s
  • Draws extensively upon archival sources, official reports, memoirs and other writings published by soldiers, contemporary journals, newspapers, and letters
  • Shows that the history of the establishment of libraries for soldiers has much in common with that of (free) public libraries,

Part of the book series: War, Culture and Society, 1750–1850 (WCS)

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Table of contents (6 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
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  2. Introduction

    • Sharon Murphy
    Pages 1-27

  3. The East India Company’s Libraries

    • Sharon Murphy
    Pages 29-61

  4. The Reading Environment, and Readers, in India

    • Sharon Murphy
    Pages 63-92

  5. The Regular Army’s Libraries

    • Sharon Murphy
    Pages 93-125

  6. The Reading Environment, and Readers, in the Regular Army

    • Sharon Murphy
    Pages 127-156

  7. Conclusion

    • Sharon Murphy
    Pages 157-170

  8. Back Matter

    Pages 171-200
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Keywords

About this book

The British Soldier and his Libraries, c. 1822-1901 considers the history of the libraries that the East India Company and Regular Army respectively established for soldiers during the nineteenth century. Drawing upon a wide range of material, including archival sources, official reports, and soldiers’ memoirs and letters, this book explores the motivations of those who were responsible for the setting up and/or operation of the libraries, and examines what they reveal about attitudes to military readers in particular and, more broadly, to working-class readers – and leisure – at this period. Murphy’s study also considers the contents of the libraries, identifying what kinds of works were provided for soldiers and where and how they read them. In so doing, The British Soldier and his Libraries, c. 1822-1901 affords another way of thinking about some of the key debates that mark book history today, and illuminates areas of interest to the general reader as well as to literary critics and military and cultural historians. 

Reviews

“There is much of interest in this book–it blends army life in India with changing attitudes at ‘Home’, in Victorian Britain, and shows how the soldier’s life undoubtedly got better during the 19th century. That the civilising influence of libraries had much to do with this may be questionable, but Murphy’s book provides a well-researched and readable argument in its favour.” (Rosie Llewellyn-Jones, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society JRAS, May, 2018)

Authors and Affiliations

  • St. Patrick’s Campus, Dublin City University, Drumcondra, Dublin 9, Ireland

    Sharon Murphy

About the author

Sharon Murphy is Lecturer in the School of English at Dublin City University, Ireland, where she is also Director of the Master’s in Children’s Literature programme. She is a graduate of University College Dublin, and of the University of Dublin, Trinity College. She is the author of Maria Edgeworth and Romance (2004), and has also contributed to essay collections and journals.    

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: The British Soldier and his Libraries, c. 1822-1901

  • Authors: Sharon Murphy

  • Series Title: War, Culture and Society, 1750–1850

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55083-5

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-71559-6Published: 24 August 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-55083-5Published: 23 June 2016

  • Series ISSN: 2634-6699

  • Series E-ISSN: 2634-6702

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XI, 200

  • Topics: History of Military, History of Britain and Ireland, Cultural History

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