Moral Injury Webinar Series

 

Next webinar

 

Monday 30 November 2026

Embattled belief: Religion and the British Army from Korea to Afghanistan
Canon Prof. Michael Snape (Durham University)

7pm GMT (UK time) | 8pm CET | 11am PST | 2pm EST

For this session we will be joined by Michael Snape for a discussion of his new book, Embattled Belief: Religion and the British Army from Korea to Afghanistan (Cambridge University Press, 2026), which examines the neglected role of religion in the British Army in an era of rapid and far-reaching change. Covering the Cold War, the end of empire, seismic shifts in Britain's cultural and religious landscape, and the dramatic shrinkage of the armed forces, the book reveals religion's abiding importance at an institutional, individual and operational level. In it, he explores the religious contexts of the Army's warfighting, counterinsurgency and peacekeeping operations, including the Korean, Falklands and Gulf Wars; the 'Emergencies' in Malaya, Kenya and Cyprus; the Northern Ireland conflict; UN and NATO operations in the Balkans; and Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11. He also charts the religious responses of British soldiers to allies, adversaries and civilian populations. This is a welcome contribution to our understanding of the secularisation of British society, the social and cultural history of the British Army, and religion and war in the contemporary world.

Michael Snape is the Michael Ramsey Professor of Anglican Studies at Durham University; he has published extensively on the history of religion and conflict in the English-speaking world. 

Register for this webinar

 

Recordings from previous webinars

Please note that only the speaker and host are recorded. Webinars include around 45 minutes audience discussion that is not recorded.

The talk by Stefano Serafini, "The invisibility of war trauma", will appear here shortly.