McNairn analyses representations of Wolfe in both popular culture and high art, from mass-produced ceramics to Benjamin West's famous painting of the death of Wolfe, from popular songs to the writings of Oliver Goldsmith, Horace Walpole, Tobias Smollett, Thomas Godfrey, Benjamin Franklin, and William Cowper. He argues that Wolfe became the embodiment of British patriotism and the superiority of the English way of life, and that the multitude of literary and visual works about Wolfe, which primarily focus on his death, were created in an environment in which legends of inspiring, politically persuasive heroics were much in demand. Behold the Hero will be of interest to historians of eighteenth-century England and America, art historians, material historians, and students of eighteenth-century English literature and drama.

Alan McNairn's profile page

"I was impressed by the massive documentation drawn together by McNairn, and by how he uses it. The book is a consistent blend of far-reaching erudition with clear writing. I was especially interested in the chapters on the visual monuments to Wolfe's memory. The author shows an excellent command of English thinking on art at the dawn of the neoclassic age, and gives clear, vibrant explanations." [translation] François-Marc Gagnon, Department of Art History, Université de Montréal.