{"product_id":"sons-of-the-empire-the-frontier-and-the-boy-scout-movement-1890-1918-9781442613133","title":"Sons of the Empire: The Frontier and the Boy Scout Movement, 1890-1918","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn\u003cem\u003e Sons of the Empire\u003c\/em\u003e, Robert MacDonald explores popular ideas and myths in Edwardian Britain, their use by Baden-Powell, and their influence on the Boy Scout movement. In particular, he analyses the model of masculinity provided by the imperial frontier, the view that life in younger, far-flung parts of the empire was stronger, less degenerate than in Britain. The stereotypical adventurer - the frontiersman - provided an alternative ethic to British society. The best known example of it at the time was Baden-Powell himself, a war scout, the Hero of Mafeking in the South African war, and one of the first cult heroes to be created by the modern media.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scouts in 1908, he used both the power of the frontier myth and his own legend as a hero to galvanize the movement. The glamour of war scouting was hard to resist, its adventures a seductive invitation to the first recruits. But Baden-Powell had a serious educational program in mind: Boy Scouts were to be trained in good citizenship.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eMacDonald documents his study with a wide range of contemporary sources, from newspapers to military memoirs. Exploring the genesis of an imperial institution through its own texts, he brings new insight into the Edwardian age.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRobert H. MacDonald\u003c\/b\u003e is an English professor at Carleton University.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"University of Toronto Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50850280079634,"sku":"9781442613133","price":46.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_f8833160-3c6f-4bbc-b369-a23159637329.jpg?v=1737409291","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/sons-of-the-empire-the-frontier-and-the-boy-scout-movement-1890-1918-9781442613133","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}