Two eminent scholars of historiography examine the concept of national identity through the key multi-volume histories of the last two hundred years. Starting with Hume’s History of England (1754–62), they explore the work of British historians whose work had a popular readership and an influence on succeeding generations of British children.
Why is English national identity so enigmatic and so elusive? Why, unlike the Scots, Welsh, Irish and most of continental Europe, do the English find it so difficult to say who they are? The Making of English National Identity, first published in 2003, is a fascinating exploration of Englishness and what it means to be English. Drawing on historical, sociological and literary theory, Krishan Kumar examines the rise of English nationalism and issues of race and ethnicity from earliest times to the present day. He argues that the long history of the English as an imperial people has, as with other imperial people like the Russians and the Austrians, developed a sense of missionary nationalism which in the interests of unity and empire has necessitated the repression of ordinary expressions of nationalism. Professor Kumar's lively and provocative approach challenges readers to reconsider their pre-conceptions about national identity and who the English really are.
Two eminent scholars of historiography examine the concept of national identity through the key multi-volume histories of the last two hundred years. Starting with Hume’s History of England (1754–62), they explore the work of British historians whose work had a popular readership and an influence on succeeding generations of British children.
Over the last two decades there has been a steady growth of interest in the study of British history from a genuinely British, as opposed to metropolitan English, perspective. Traditionally British history has been taught as modern English history. This curious dichotomy crept into British historiography during the twentieth century as the result of domestic political tensions and imperial decline. Alexander Murdoch's new book seeks to explain the importance or Irish, Scottish and Welsh history to British history and relate English history to broader British patterns.
What does it mean to be British? It is now recognized that being British is not innate, static or permanent, but that national identities within Britain are constantly constructed and reconstructed. Britishness since 1870 examines this definition and redefinition of the British national identity since the 1870s. Paul Ward argues that British national identity is a resilient force, and looks at how Britishness has adapted to changing circumstances. Taking a thematic approach, Britishness since 1870 examines the forces that have contributed to a sense of Britishness, and considers how Britishness has been mediated by other identities such as class, gender, region, ethnicity and the sense of belonging to England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
From an obscure, misty archipelago on the fringes of the Roman world to history's largest empire and originator of the world's mongrel, magpie language - this is Britain's past. But, today, Britain is experiencing an acute trauma of identity, pulled simultaneously towards its European, Atlantic and wider heritages. To understand the dislocation and collapse, we must look back: to Britain's evolution, achievements, complexities and tensions. In a ground-breaking new take on British identity, historian and barrister Dominic Selwood explores over 950,000 years of British history by examining 50 documents that tell the story of what makes Britain unique. Some of these documents are well-known. Most are not. Each reveal something important about Britain and its people. From Anglo-Saxon poetry, medieval folk music and the first Valentine's Day letter to the origin of computer code, Hitler's kill list of prominent Britons, the Sex Pistols' graphic art and the Brexit referendum ballot paper, Anatomy of a Nation reveals a Britain we have never seen before. People are at the heart of the story: a female charioteer queen from Wetwang, a plague surviving graffiti artist, a drunken Bible translator, outlandish Restoration rakehells, canting criminals, the eccentric fathers of modern typography and the bankers who caused the finance crisis. Selwood vividly blends human stories with the selected 50 documents to bring out the startling variety and complexity of Britain's achievements and failures in a fresh and incisive insight into the British psyche. This is history the way it is supposed to be told: a captivating and entertaining account of the people that built Britain.
Ideas of Englishness, and of the English nation, have become a matter of renewed interest in recent years as a result of threats to the integrity of the United Kingdom and the perceived rise of that unusual thing, English nationalism. Interrogating the idea of an English nation, and of how that might compare with other concepts of nationhood, this book’s wide-ranging, comparative and historical approach to understanding the particular nature of Englishness and English national identity, will appeal to scholars of sociology, cultural studies and history with interests in English and British national identity and debates about England’s future place in the United Kingdom.
This book examines the prominent role played by constitutional history from 1870 to 1960 in the creation of a positive sense of identity for Britain and the United States.
This innovative book provides an essential historical perspective on the boundaries of the state in modern Britain. At a time of intense debate about the state, the collection of interdisciplinary studies gathered here emphasizes the sheer variety of public involvement in British life, the ebb and flow of that involvement and its dynamics, and the wider implications this has for civil society and intellectual life. These new essays contribute to current debates not only by providing a historical analysis but also by looking to future developments.
