Journal ArticleDOI
Britons: Forging the Nation 1707-1837.
Eliga H. Gould,Linda Colley +1 more
TLDR
In this paper, Colley explains how a new British nation was invented in the wake of the 1707 Act of Union, and how this new national identity was nurtured through war, religion, trade and imperial expansion.Abstract:
How was Great Britain made? And what does it mean to be British? In this prize-winning book, Linda Colley explains how a new British nation was invented in the wake of the 1707 Act of Union, and how this new national identity was nurtured through war, religion, trade and imperial expansion. Here too are numerous individual Britons - heroes and politicians like Nelson and Pitt; bourgeois patriots like Thomas Coram and John Wilkes; artists, writers and musicians who helped to forge our image of Britishness; as well as many ordinary men and women whose stories have never previously been told. Powerful and timely, this lavishly illustrated book is a major contribution to our understanding of Britain's past and to the growing debate about the shape and survival of Britain and its institutions in the future. \"The most dazzling and comprehensive study of a national identity yet to appear in any language.\" Tom Nairn, Scotsman \"A very fine book ...challenging, fascinating, enormously well-informed.\" John Barrell, London Review of Books \"Wise and bracing history ...which provides an historical context for debate about British citizenship barely begun.\" Michael Ratcliffe, Observer \"Controversial, entertaining and alarmingly topical ...a delight to read.\"Philip Ziegler, Daily Telegraph \"Uniting sharp analysis, pungent prose and choice examples, Colley probes beneath the skin and lays bare the anatomy of nationhood.\" Roy Porter, New Statesman & Societyread more
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Book
Irish Officers in the British Forces, 1922-45
Abstract: Nationalism has been one of the enduring ideologies of the modern era, and never more so than with the Irish, colonized by the English, and whose nationalism has been so richly expressed in language and literature, and in waves of rebellion, the last of which threw off direct British rule in 1921. Steven O’Connor’s book on Irish officers who served in the British Army after independence reimagines ‘identity’ in ways other than nationalism: masculinity, the search for adventure, familial martial traditions, career advancement, public school virtues, memories of service, duty and honour, empire, and religion. O’Connor’s examination touches upon the motivations and experiences of rankers, but focuses in the main on the better-educated, wellheeled Irish who for reasons other than poverty decided to join a foreign armed force, and so, technically, become mercenaries. The men and women from Ireland who served and swore allegiance to the Crown before and during the Second World War were tensed between ‘Irishness’ and other loyalties, with religion providing a partial explanation for the pull to the Colours as Catholics and those from south of the border were as likely as Protestants across Ireland to fight and die for King and Country. That said, O’Connor argues that Protestants joined more for empire loyalty, while Catholics did the same to further their careers.
Dissertation
Slavery, War, and Britain's Atlantic Empire: Black Soldiers, Sailors, and Rebels in the Seven Years' War
Journal ArticleDOI
Western Union, “Spiritual Union,” and European Integration, 1948–1951
TL;DR: The authors argue that at no point did British foreign policy abandon its global ambitions or its stresses on either the primary importance of the Anglo-American "special relationship" or the importance of Britain's special relationship with the US.
Journal ArticleDOI
Gypsies, nomadism, and the limits of realism
TL;DR: The gypsy characters in British novels often make momentary appearances, vanishing from the horizons of the represented world after a single episode as mentioned in this paper, while the heroes and heroines of novels are highly individualized and characterized with concern for detail and deviation.