In this video Jessica considers the portrayal of the ‘ordinary’ or ‘citizen’ hero, starting with Bruce Bairnsfather’s famous ‘Old Bill’ cartoon character. The ‘citizen hero’ was an everyman figure, showing qualities of endurance, comradeship, and black humour. But there were differences in the...

In this video Alison and Claudia provide an account of heroines in occupied France and Belgium during World War 1. They focus in particular on Edith Cavell, a British nurse who spoke fluent French and ran a training school for Belgian nurses. When war broke out, she became involved in a local...

In this video Ingrid describes the impossibility of heroism in post-World War 2 German culture. She compares German images of the Red Baron produced at the time of the war and since, as well as contrasting these with British representations.