ABSTRACT
Studies of modern conflict often focus on the atrocities of war and their aftermaths. Deploying an ethnographic fieldwork approach, this study focuses on Royal Marine recruits and their experiences while preparing for armed conflict. This sheds light on the recruit's body and the many rituals and practices that transform it from civilian to marine and prepare it for conflict and survival during conflict. The rich ethnographic description establishes how the corporeal nature of human bodies can be shaped and re-shaped through exposure to military culture, and the militarised body is itself a unique form of material culture.
