Britons: Forging the Nation, 1707-1837How was Great Britain made? And what does it mean to be British? In this prize-winning book, Linda Colley combines imperial, political, social, and cultural history to analyze the evolution of Britishness, evoking its enduring tensions as well as its powerful characteristics. Hailed at its publication as "the most dazzling and comprehensive study of a national identity yet to appear” (Tom Nairn), Britons is now reissued with a new Preface by the author commenting on the book’s genesis and critical reception and on recent political developments. "A sweeping survey, . . . evocatively illustrated and engagingly written.”--Harriet Ritvo, New York Times Book Review "Dashingly written and firmly unsentimental.”--Keith Thomas, New York Review of Books "Extremely learned and penetrating . . . [and] most entertaining.”--Conor Cruise O’Brien, New Republic "Challenging, fascinating, enormously well informed.”--John Barrell, London Review of Books "[Colley] has a capacity for historical generalizations that puts her into the front rank among her contemporaries.”--E. P. Thompson, Dissent "Absolutely magnificent.”--Jeffrey Hart, National Review |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 87
Page xvi
... French and , to a lesser extent after 1707 , Spanish forms of government , religion , and military power allowed the different Protestant traditions of Scotland , Wales , and England to come together in a common union of self ...
... French and , to a lesser extent after 1707 , Spanish forms of government , religion , and military power allowed the different Protestant traditions of Scotland , Wales , and England to come together in a common union of self ...
Page 1
... French clerics , intellectuals and tourists scrutinised Britain's political system , moral fibre and cultural achievements , and their British counterparts did the same with regard to France , in both cases with a manic obsessiveness ...
... French clerics , intellectuals and tourists scrutinised Britain's political system , moral fibre and cultural achievements , and their British counterparts did the same with regard to France , in both cases with a manic obsessiveness ...
Page 2
... -1837 Linda Colley. 1. The Gallic Cock and English Lyon , anonymous print , 1739 2. The British Lion and the French Cock : a sketch by Philippe de Loutherbourg , c.1797 . they could neither live together peacefully , nor ignore each.
... -1837 Linda Colley. 1. The Gallic Cock and English Lyon , anonymous print , 1739 2. The British Lion and the French Cock : a sketch by Philippe de Loutherbourg , c.1797 . they could neither live together peacefully , nor ignore each.
Page 4
... French - sponsored Jacobite invasion . By then , though , Jacobitism throughout Britain was plainly dust and ashes . The main ideological threat posed by the next two wars with France was not religious but overwhelmingly political . By ...
... French - sponsored Jacobite invasion . By then , though , Jacobitism throughout Britain was plainly dust and ashes . The main ideological threat posed by the next two wars with France was not religious but overwhelmingly political . By ...
Page 5
... French as they im- agined them to be , superstitious , militarist , decadent and unfree . And , increasingly as the wars went on , they defined themselves in contrast to the colonial peoples they conquered , peoples who were manifestly ...
... French as they im- agined them to be , superstitious , militarist , decadent and unfree . And , increasingly as the wars went on , they defined themselves in contrast to the colonial peoples they conquered , peoples who were manifestly ...
Contents
IV | 11 |
VI | 18 |
VII | 30 |
VIII | 43 |
IX | 55 |
X | 56 |
XI | 71 |
XII | 85 |
XXVIII | 237 |
XXIX | 238 |
XXX | 250 |
XXXI | 262 |
XXXII | 273 |
XXXIII | 283 |
XXXIV | 285 |
XXXV | 291 |
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Common terms and phrases
Act of Union American anti-slavery arms army battle became Britain Britannia British British monarchy Britons Cambridge Catholic emancipation celebration Charles Edward Stuart civil classes colonies commercial culture defence domestic Duke dynasty early Edinburgh eighteenth century élite empire England English Englishmen Europe European female France French French Revolution George III George III's Hanoverian Highlanders historians History House of Commons Ibid identity imperial important invasion Ireland Jacobite James John Wilkes Jonas Hanway kind king land large numbers less London Lord major male military militia monarchy Napoleonic nation never newspapers nineteenth century North organised Oxford Parliament parliamentary reform patrician patriotic peers petitions political popular population propaganda Protestant Protestantism Queen radical Revolution royal Scotland Scots Scottish Scottish Lowlands seemed sense Seven Years War slave slavery social Society Stuart successful Tory towns trade volunteer corps Wales wars Welsh Whig Wilkite William women