An Imperial War and the British Working Class

Book excerpt: First published in 2006. This study looks at a time when Victorian Britain was a time for self-doubt. There was an increasing fear that the 'place in the sun' that had so long been hers was being shadowed by the rising powers of Germany and the United States of America. Doubts arouse about her economic strength, her military prowess, even the viability of the two-party system. The South African War of 1899-1902 served for a time as the focus for all the fears that many Britons had about their country's future. The patriotism it engendered was exaggerated by the early military failures to resolve the problem of the troublesome Boers. The focus of the text is on working-class attitudes and reactions to the Boer War 1899-1902.