British History 1660-1832: National Identity and Local Culture

This provocative interpretation of the idea of Britain examines the transformation of a sectarian concept into an imperial ideology forged during a period of sustained warfare in Europe and ever-expanding areas beyond Europe during the second half of the eighteenth century. It seeks to examine constitutional history from a non-Anglocentric perspective and to relate it to historiographical developments in social history and the history of ideas. Based on more than twenty-five years of research, it seeks to examine critically a concept which has come under increasing public debate during the past decade.