Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 August 2023
This essay gives a fresh account of a pivotal moment in the events that led to the outbreak of the Iraq War in March 2003, when Lieutenant Colonel Tim Collins addressed his troops – the Royal Irish Regiment – paraphrasing off-the-cuff the speech that Shakespeare’s Henry V gives to his men on the eve of the battle of Agincourt. In this essay, Collins reflects on the power of Shakespeare’s language to move not only his audiences in theatres around the world but also soldiers on the battlefield. He explains how important it is for a military leader to be able to inspire his troops into action, especially when the reasons for going to war and the complexities of a conflict like the Iraq War can prove problematic and divisive.
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