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 40
Page ii
... present concerns ... Time and again , the arresting connection or the startling detail makes one see familiar ground from a new perspective . ' Hugo Young , Guardian BRITONS Forging the Nation 1707-1837 LINDA COLLEY NB Yale Nota.
... present concerns ... Time and again , the arresting connection or the startling detail makes one see familiar ground from a new perspective . ' Hugo Young , Guardian BRITONS Forging the Nation 1707-1837 LINDA COLLEY NB Yale Nota.
Page ix
... Present Society of Oxford allowed me to work out some of my initial thoughts in the pages of its journal , and various chapters were much improved by comments from seminar and conference groups at Cambridge University , the Institute of ...
... Present Society of Oxford allowed me to work out some of my initial thoughts in the pages of its journal , and various chapters were much improved by comments from seminar and conference groups at Cambridge University , the Institute of ...
Page xiii
... present , which also have a bearing on this work . Books that take a long time to write are at the mercy of change and serendipity : and this was the ( largely ) happy fate of Britons . In some respects , the transformations that ...
... present , which also have a bearing on this work . Books that take a long time to write are at the mercy of change and serendipity : and this was the ( largely ) happy fate of Britons . In some respects , the transformations that ...
Page xviii
... Present ( Middletown , CT . , 1963 ) , p . 70. The emphases are the poet's own . I am grateful to David Underdown for drawing my attention to this verse . 4. See David Hancock , Citizens of the World : London Merchants and the ...
... Present ( Middletown , CT . , 1963 ) , p . 70. The emphases are the poet's own . I am grateful to David Underdown for drawing my attention to this verse . 4. See David Hancock , Citizens of the World : London Merchants and the ...
Page 7
... present , and may well be the means of its unmaking in the future . This book , then , deals both with a specific problem - why did Britons in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries become patriots and with what results ? - and ...
... present , and may well be the means of its unmaking in the future . This book , then , deals both with a specific problem - why did Britons in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries become patriots and with what results ? - and ...
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 |
Other editions - View all
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