Synopses & Reviews
How was Great Britain made? And what does it mean to be British? This brilliant and seminal book examines how a more cohesive British nation was invented after 1707 and how this new national identity was nurtured through war, religion, trade, and empire. Lavishly illustrated and powerful, Britons remains a major contribution to our understanding of Britains past, and continues to influence ongoing controversies about this politys survival and future. This edition contains an extensive new preface by the author.
A sweeping survey, . . . evocatively illustrated and engagingly written.”Harriet Ritvo, New York Times Book Review
Challenging, fascinating, enormously well informed.”John Barrell, London Review of Books
Linda Colley writes with clarity and grace...Her stimulating book will be, and deserves to be influential”E. P. Thompson, Dissent
Linda Colley is Shelby M. C. Davis 1958 Professor of History at Princeton University.
Winner of the Wolfson History Prize
A New York Times Notable Book
Synopsis
How 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 BooksExtremely 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, DissentAbsolutely magnificent.--Jeffrey Hart, National Review
Synopsis
In this prize-winning book, Linda Colley interweaves political, military, and social history to recount how England, Wales, and Scotland joined together to form a new British nation and how heroes and politicians, artists and writers, and ordinary men and women helped forge a British identity. 82 b&w illustrations.