Englishness Identified

Between 1650 and 1850 perceptions of the English were transformed, as a nation of supposed barbarians, fanatics, and king-killers evolved into a world power of political maturity, imperial grandeur, and industrial might. Englishness Identified traces the evolution of the so-called English national character through the impressions and analyses of foreign observers, and relates it to English ambitions and anxieties during a period of rapid change.