John Wolffe’s book builds on the recent growth of scholarly study into historical memory and commemorative practices. This scholarship has thrown light on the debates and rituals surrounding the war dead especially, but has expanded both thematically and chronologically. Wolffe aims to investigate the role of martyrdom in the twentieth century, and especially martyrdom’s presentation as both religious and secular, co-existing in ‘complex interaction with each other’ (p. 3). In particular, the double helix of nationalism and Christianity is under the microscope here, with a focus on Britain and Ireland and the comparative development of martyrdom in both places. This study represents a useful intervention in considering the histories of martyrdom, memory, and national identity, and to a lesser extent those of secularisation and of nationalism more widely. Presenting an interesting array of examples, it also leaves the reader with questions to ponder further and will likely serve as a stimulus to further research on the wide range of topics touched upon.

The book is divided into seven chapters, in chronological order covering the decades from First World War until the early twenty-first century. The first addresses ‘varieties of martyrdom’, setting the context for early twentieth-century understandings of martyrdom and the legacies of past centuries, including renewed interest in the Reformation martyrs on both sides of the confessional divide. The second chapter picks up these threads and considers the rhetoric and symbolism of the First World War, showing the complex weave of nationalism and religious sacrifice. The third chapter speaks of martyrdom in the interwar period in Britain, where martyrdom still possessed a strong ‘cultural currency’ (p. 52) in describing violence and suffering, despite the frequently uneasy relations between sacred and secular. Chapter 4 describes Ireland and its strong tradition of both sacred and secular martyrdom, though traces changing attitudes especially towards the end of the twentieth century. The fifth chapter concentrates on the aftermath of World War II and includes a fascinating discussion on the controversial Falklands commemoration, with a clash between church and state, and remembrance and celebration. Contemporary debates since the 1980s are the basis for chapter 6, with a decreasing emphasis on martyrdom in the ‘western’ world, and the impact of discourses of victimhood and human rights violations in how people conceptualise suffering. A conclusion brings together many of the book’s themes, including reflections both on the persistence of martyrdom but also its potential to divide and hurt, with the emergence of alternatives as a possibly more inclusive way to remember and commemorate.

There are many strengths to this book, and valuable insights to be gained. One of these is the final chapter that draws on a series of interviews discussing both distant and more recent ‘martyrs’, with participants drawn from different Christian denominations in the UK and Ireland, from the Islamic community, and one lonely atheist (though several participants identified themselves as non-practising Christians). The extracts from the interviews, woven around several key themes, are fascinating glimpses into the complexities and controversies that appear throughout the book’s pages, but brought vividly to life and grappled with on a very human level. A further strength is the book’s discussion of the last thirty years more generally, with the interviews forming part of this. There is much fuel for further debate and scholarship here, including on war commemorations, contemporary Christian persecution, and the seeming decline of martyrdom as favoured discourse, as well as the influence of Holocaust commemoration on how violence is remembered and decried. One outlier in this decline of martyrdom that Wolffe identifies in the twenty-first century is Ireland, with its tradition of secular, national martyrdom (p. 112). The sensitivity to the Irish case is commendable here even if only forming a part of the book rather than being integral throughout.

Readers who are looking for wider insights into broad debates such as secularisation and nationalism and the impact of martyrdom on these in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries may find themselves somewhat frustrated here. Much of this discussion is confined to the relatively short conclusion, with little reflection on these in the chapters themselves, even when tracing manifestations of them such as the changing role of churches in commemoration, or periodic nationalist revivals during periods of conflict. The breadth of coverage here, while making the volume as a whole eminently readable and thought-provoking, does mean that many themes are only briefly discussed—thus it is best understood as a starting point and stimulus to future research. In contrast to the interviews addressing the later period, a more popular understanding of martyrdom is rather absent from earlier discussions, with its focus on debates among officials, churchmen, and politicians. Families, veterans, and the wider community occasionally bob into view, whether it is protesting the absence of crosses on gravestones, or in their varying attendance at commemorative ceremonies across the years, but there is little sustained investigation of what a wider public understood of martyrdom, its significance, its language, and its symbols. One thing that springs from the page in the interviews is the diversity of views and the often-contentious feelings of many: greater consideration of whether that was the case in earlier periods would have been welcome.

However, these are minor criticisms of what is a highly interesting study that covers a wide range of examples of martyrdom’s seeming great flexibility in its application both ‘religiously’ and ‘secularly’ in the twentieth and twenty-first century. The book represents a valuable addition to current debates on memory, commemoration, and national identities, highlighting the persistence of martyrdom and its adaptability, but also raising questions as to its future in light of its divisive power. This research raises many questions and as such will surely serve as a stimulus for future work.