| dc.description.abstract | A change in the nature and character of the Victoria Cross recipient, as presented to the public, is evident with a focus on the publications surrounding each newly awarded hero. The following research follows this presentation, that of the warlike hero to British society, through the lens of The London Gazette and other outlets of the commercial press. While similar academic literature focuses on certain time periods of the award’s history, this study combines all temporal focus points, in order to display the rate of and eventual gravity of change. Analysis of the change in tone of the many different outlets of Victoria Cross publication also allows comparison to the increasing mortality rate in war. The Victoria Cross soldier is simultaneously subject to more effective efforts of extermination, and to a public more interested in the full story of the soldier’s life. The difference between the public figure of the Victoria Cross recipient from the nineteenth century is compared to that of the public figure of this century, with a focus on the development of the press throughout the short history of the Victoria Cross. The study of the change of this public figure attempts to provide an understanding of the effects that multiple twentieth century wars and technological developments had on the idea of the hero. | |
