WarTalk: Foreign Languages and the British War Effort in Europe, 1940-47 (Palgrave Studies in Languages at War)

This book offers a new perspective on the British experience of the Second World War in Europe, one in which foreignness and foreign languages are central to the dynamics of war-making. It offers a series of snapshots of the role which foreign languages played in Britain's war – in intelligence gathering (both signals and human intelligence), in psychological warfare, in preparations for liberating and occupying the continent, in denazification, in providing relief for refugees and displaced persons, and in postwar relationships with the USSR. By mapping the linguistic landscape of Britain's war in Europe, key aspects of international communication – translation, language performance, authenticity, language policies – are seen to be vital to military preparations and operations.