Introduction: Passions of War: Gender, Sexuality and Conflict in the Long Eighteenth Century

This article provides an introduction to the Journal for Eighteenth‐Century Studies special issue ‘Passions of War: Gender, Sexuality and Conflict in the Long Eighteenth Century’. Following an overview of the rationale for the AHRC Research Network ‘Passions of War: Cross‐Disciplinary Perspectives on Gender, Sexuality and Conflict, 1550‐1945’, the introduction goes on to discuss the literary, artistic, historical and intellectual contexts that inform the issue. Particular attention is paid to the representation of military masculinities, sexual violence, cross‐dressing, same‐sex intimacies and to alternative interpretations of gendered patterns of behaviour. The introduction then offers summary accounts of the individual articles.