Men at War

Loving, Lusting, Fighting, Remembering 1939-1945

By: Luke Turner

Narrated by: Luke Turner

Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

As a child, Luke Turner was obsessed with the Second World War. He spent hours painstakingly constructing models of his favourite aircraft, watching Sunday afternoon war films, pouring over stories of derring-do and relishing in birthday trips to air museums. Lying in bed beneath Airfix bombers and fighter planes suspended from his bedroom ceiling, he would often think about the men that might sit in their cockpits, and whether he could ever be one of them. Now, as an adult who has come to terms with a masculine identity and sexuality that is often erased from dominant military narratives, he undertakes a refreshingly honest analysis of his fascination with the war.

In Men at War, Turner looks beyond the increasingly retrogressive and jingoistic ideal of a Britain that never was to discover a much richer history. He goes inside the machines of war and strips away uniform cloth to discover the true depth and complexity of men of war as creatures of love, fear, hope and desire. From writers, filmmakers, artists and ordinary men - including those in his own family - Turner assembles a broad cast of characters to bring the war to life. There are conscientious objectors, a bisexual Commando, a pacifist poet who flew for Bomber Command, a transgender RAF pilot, a soldier who suffered in Japanese POW camps and later in life became an LGBT+ activist, and those who simply did what they could just to survive and return home to a complicated peace.

As the conflict moves beyond living memory and the last veterans leave us, we are in danger of missing the opportunity to gain a true understanding of the rich humanity that lies beyond the myths, machines and iconography. By exploring a wartime experience that embraces sex, lust and the body as much as tactics and weaponry, Turner argues that the only way we can really understand the Second World War is to get to grips with the complexity of the lives and identities of those who fought and endured it.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Luke Turner (P)2023 Orion Publishing Group Limited

Critic reviews

"So original and surprising I am all but speechless with admiration." (The Reverend Richard Coles)

"Profound, moving and complex, Men at War is a powerful reflection on trauma and love, on humanity in adversity." (Brett Anderson)

"An intensely personal examination of manliness and sexuality in WW2 by a man who comes clean about his lingering Airfix habit. Turner fearlessly interrogates the war-obsession of 1970s boyhoods and unearths some extraordinary testimonies and stories from the frontlines. This is lovely, tender, subversive stuff." (Patrick Gale)

loved this book!

I very much loved this book. I heard about it when the author was interviewed on a fav podcast, so hearing him read his own words after listening to him discuss his research was perfect. I share his conflict- a fascination with the machines & history of war, but a horror of its realities- as well as his interest in the small stories of the ordinary people who fought in WWII. As an American & a woman, the very British look at masculinity and male sexuality within the war years was a history I had never before heard. Make it all the way through- the last few chapters will touch your emotions. I could feel the steel of the monument he described, and the simple delight of seeing the generations continue in a baby playing with a spinning toy. Strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in WWII, gender/sexuality studies, or anyone has ever asked themselves "what would I have done if I was a young adult in WWII? And what would the impact of my choice be on me & my descendants?" (me, I'm signing up for the code girls or moments men, as the latter took qualified women)