Commemorating Defeat

This book provides a ground-breaking study of monuments to defeat. Focusing on one sculpture—Gloria Victis, or Glory to the Defeated, by French artist Antonin Mercié—the author examines the artwork’s profound influence on commemorative practices at the turn of the twentieth century. Using case studies spanning Europe, Africa, and North and South America, the research examples given in this book highlight an international trend for erecting public monuments celebrating military defeats. The analysis of the role of public sculpture in shaping collective memory from the standpoint of history’s losers rather than victors reveals surprising connections between defeat and power. Weaving together histories of failed revolutions, foreign conquests, and toppled governments, this book creates a thoughtful analysis of the political manipulation of fact and memory which is just as relevant for the present as it is for the past.