Glorious Dead

by Geoffrey Archer

Certain events are so momentous that nobody can at first fully comprehend. This was true when attempting to assess the terrible war of 1914-18, but also of the period afterwards, when the people of Britain tried to come to terms with how to remember their dead. In most places the answer was through an inert obelisk, cross or slab, but in larger towns the decision was made to impart remembrance through figurative sculpture. It is the largest input of public sculpture Britain has ever known. The Glorious Dead presents the viewer with the sculptor's task, naming the variety of ideas, emotions and motives and how they all translated into imagery fit for the town square and the carved list of names. Looking at hundreds of pictures, one memorial shows a dead body under a sheet, another has a tommy with a bayonet at the ready; here the figure of winged Victory towers above our heads while elsewhere mothers and daughters in metal and stone weep for evermore. Why the differences And why has there never been an art explanation until now Geoff Archer is an art teacher and practising painter who took over ten years to research sculpture associated with Britain's 1st World War Memorials. His book opens with images of volunteers leaving home. Then follows The Realities of War', where we see sculpted machines and trenches as in CS Jagger's Artillery Memorial. The last part, Remembering', has figures of Peace', Victory', or Honour'' and in a rare statue in Skipton, John Cassidy's allegory of youth breaks a sword over his knee. The photos, mostly those of the author, not only illustrate the text but stand alone as art images. The author notes the critical dismissal' of memorial sculpture but seeks out certain WW1 memorial figures which stand comparison with the best public sculpture anywhere. In fact, while already acknowledged masters such as Frampton, Toft and Drury designed memorials, there were others like Jagger and Ledward who made their reputations with them in the 1920s

416 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 2009

About the author

Geoffrey Archer is a fiction writer from London. He specialises in military adventures and spy thrillers and created the character Sam Packer.