Martial Races: The Military, Race and Masculinity in British Imperial Culture, 1857-1914

Studies in Imperialism

by Heather E. Streets-Salter

This book explores how and why Scottish Highlanders, Punjabi Sikhs, and Nepalese Gurkhas became identified as the British Empire's fiercest soldiers in nineteenth century discourse. As "martial races" these men were believed to possess a biological or cultural disposition to the racial and masculine qualities necessary for the arts of war. Because of this, they were used as icons to promote recruitment in British and Indian armies--a phenomenon with important social and political effects in India, in Britain, and in the armies of the Empire.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Race, British Literature

288 pages, Hardcover

First published March 2, 2005

About the author

Heather Streets-Salter is the Chair and an Associate Professor of History at Northwestern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She received her PhD in 1998 from Duke University, USA.

Streets-Salter’s research focuses on world history, the structure of empires and colonial relationships, and the scholarship of pedagogy. She is the author of Martial Races: The Military, Martial Races, and Masculinity in British Imperial Culture, 1857-1914 (2004), Traditions and Encounters: A Brief Global History (2006, 2009, 2012) with Jerry Bentley and Herb Ziegler, and Modern Imperialism and Colonialism: A Global Perspective (2010 and 2014) with Trevor Getz. She is completing a monograph entitled Beyond Empire: Southeast Asia and the World During the Great War, which explores the multiple impacts of World War I on this region. This monograph is integrally related to her current research interests in studying imperialism and colonialism as global phenomena. She argues that colonial histories cannot be understood without reference to neighboring colonies, rival metropoles, and even—in this case—extra-colonial locations such as China, the United States, the Ottoman Empire, and Germany.

Streets-Salter’s teaching at the graduate and undergraduate levels focuses on World History, the history of imperialism, gender history, and British history.

Reviews

[Ailith]

Thorough and illuminating but still short and easily readable, highly recommend

[Becca w]

Excellent book. Some of the highest level analysis I’ve read in a while. Compelling, unexpected, with impressive prose. Will be a model for my own work!

[Meagan]

I just have to say if you're incredibly fascinated by Victorian British military specifically concerning the (ab)use of the native Indian population in India and challenging masculine stereotypes, then buckle up because I have the book for you!!!

If this doesn't interest you at all, and can only picture the hunter from Jumanji as the Victorian British soldier, welp. Can't help ya there.

Okay, just kidding but it does shed new light on what defines masculinity and how the meaning ebbed and flowed on its definition. As it's written by a woman I feel that there's no hesitation challenging any argument. Huzzah.

[Zoheb Mashiur]

Wonderful book that perhaps gets a little lost in its thesis statement and leaves out pieces that don't fit. What, for example, of Punjabi Muslim culture?

[Simon]

Great book! The intersection of Victorian gender norms, racial "science" and imperial military anxieties that formed a particularly complex and resilient racial ideology are clearly laid out by Streets. Very useful for anyone working on colonial and post-colonial militarization.

[bookcasewalls]

Lucid, intelligent and interesting.