Englishness and Empire 1939-1965

Did loss of imperial power and the end of empire have any significant impact on metropolitan culture and identity after 1939? Within a burgeoning literature on national identity and Englishness, this is a question that has received surprisingly little attention.

Drawing on extensive research in the media archive, Englishness and Empire explores how far, and in what contexts and unexpected places, imperial identity and loss of imperial power resonated in popular narratives of nation. As the first full monograph to investigate the significance of empire and its legacies in shaping national identity after 1939, this is an important study for scholars and students of modern British history, empire and Commonwealth, decolonisation, migration, gender, ethnicity, and race.