Britons: Forging the Nation 1707-1837 [Paperback]

Professor Linda Colley (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0300059256 | ISBN-13: 978-0300059250 | Publication Date: September 10, 1994

In this compelling book, Linda Colley recounts how a new British nation was invented in the wake of the Act of Union between England and Wales and Scotland in 1707. Skillfully interweaving political, military, and social history, Colley enlivens her story with colorful vignettes of the heroes and politicians, artists and writers, and ordinary women and men who helped forge a British national identity. Her book is a major contribution to our understanding of Britain`s past and to the contemporary debate about the shape and identity of Britain in the future.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

During the 120 years covered by this book, the Scots, Welsh, English, and to some extent the Irish began to think of themselves as Britons. Many forces combined to create this new identity in the minds of these people. One of the most important was the almost-constant warfare against France, and hence the need for protected shipping made British identity an economic advantage for the Scots. Fear of invasion and the need for soldiers helped expand the roles of ordinary men and women and at the same time increased their feelings of patriotism. Colley has reinterpreted some old theories and offers evidence to support her views. She also shows that some changes that seem to have been sudden actually were part of the logical progression of these early movements. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.
- Marilyn Dailey, Natrona Cty. P.L., Casper, Wyo.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"It was Colley's clinical analysis of the political and cultural construction of 18th-century Britain which did so much to kick-start our debate about national identity. The clarity of her prose and cohesiveness of her argument remain bewitching." Tristram Hunt, BBC History Magazine "Controversial, entertaining and alarmingly topical... Not only scholarly, but witty, lively and a delight to read. A book that could hardly present complex and challenging argument with greater lucidity and grace." Philip Ziegler, Daily Telegraph "A very ambitious book.... The general reader cannot fail to enjoy it and the professional historian will be stimulated by it." J. H. Plumb, Financial Times "A book written with such gusto and verve that even a non-academic reader drives through its pages with ease." Angela Lambert, Independent "A remarkable amount of light is shed upon current and coming events by this new study of that elusive thing, the nation... A lavishly researched and illustrated narrative." J. Enoch Powell, Spectator "In this brilliant book... Dr. Colley tells this story with scholarly punctilio, yet also with the brio of an historian who has something serious to say. Time and time again, the arresting connection or the startling detail makes one see familiar ground from a new perspective... It is a rich and stimulating work, which uses illustrations, mainly the cartoons and portraits of the day, with more precise and telling point than any history book I can remember." Hugo Young, The Guardian "A forceful and eloquent analysis of the 'subject, no citizen' mind-set which bound the English, Scots and Welsh together. Impressive prose, and sharp interpretation of visual material, compelled assent." Christopher Harvie, Times Literary Supplement "Challenging, fascinating, enormously well informed." John Barrell, London Review of Books" --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 440 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (September 10, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300059256
• ISBN-13: 978-0300059250
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #827,885 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, but flawed in its analysis, February 5, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Cambridge, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Britons: Forging the Nation 1707-1837 (Hardcover)

Linda Colley demonstrates her abilities as a top-shelf social historian in "Britons." Her command of widely diverse source material is remarkable--her presentation of popular ballads, cartoons, and broadsheets is both delightful and interesting. However, in her rush to demonstrate the consensual nature of "Britishness," she glosses over some very difficult issues (like the deliberately omitted question of how the Irish never became "British") and assumes away some others (she exaggerates the importance of the Stuart threat after 1746, and attributes Catholic Emancipation too much to 'popular demand' and too little, as Wellington understood as Prime Minister, to the fact that the Irish would surely fight for it). Although this is an admirable piece of scholarship, it fails to recognize that the peoples of the 'Celtic fringe' were generally dragooned into being British; their early participation in empire-building was more a result of escaping the poverty of Ireland or Scotland than of some newly minted transcendent patriotism. Nevertheless, this book is well worth the read, albeit with a large grain of critical salt.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly good....., January 16, 2001

By 

A. Woodley "Patroness, Janeites, the Austen list" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Britons: Forging the Nation 1707-1837 (Paperback)

I say surprisingly good because I approached this book with some trepidation, there seem to have been an awful lot of books 'explaining' the Georgian Age and this period of history generally. Colley had also picked out a very broad and dynamic period to try to sum up in a relatively limited space. However, I was very pleasantly surprised with this book which I think provides an asset to anybody interested in this period. Colley shows herself to have a very good grasp of her material, but she also manages to bring in a broad range of information - from political movements to ballads, to satires to art - to make some thought-provoking conclusions.

As a social history it is well written but cannot hope to thoroughly cover every issue from the chosen era - a period defined from the Act of Union in 1707 until the start of the Victorian age in 1837. Of course this period of history includes some of the biggest changes in British culture and social structure - the rapid decline of disease, the huge jump in population, the industrial revolution with all its influences on roads, canals, post and so on. Colley instead has limited herself to some major issues and the changes - she divides these subjects up into 8 broad areas, Protestants, Profits, Peripheries, Dominance, Majesty, Womanpower, Manpower and Victories.

Having recently read the Amanda Foreman's biography of Georgiana, 5th Duchess of Devonshire - I was most interested in Colley's discussion under the section on Womanpower, on the role of women in society using the active role of Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire and the role of the caricaturists and satirists of the day and I thought Colley managed to shed new light on the subject and women's role at this time.

However, there were some disappointments - no doubt due to the size of the book versus the topic covered - some things were treated with less thoroughness than they deserved. I felt for instance the problems of the Militia was dealt with in too short a manner. It really was predominantly the post-1803 problems of militia with some minor references to the Militia acts of the previous century. Why is this important? Well the militia did provide a vital role for law and order in a country without a police force, and that the British public were very reluctant to have an armed force at all - however given that a large proportion of the period of this book (1707-1837) was spent at War with France then I think that this subject deserved a bit more thorough treatment.

The book is illustrated in B/W pictures which intersperse the text occassionally. It is very well footnoted and all in all I think an excellent asset for anyone interested in this period.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb study of 18th century British identity, March 5, 2006

By 

Stoyanov (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Britons: Forging the Nation 1707-1837 (Paperback)

The topic of "identity," especially national identity, isn't exactly the sexiest topic when it comes to writing History for non-Historians. That is why Linda Colley's "Britons" deserves so much praise; it takes a topic as seemingly mundane as 18th century British Identity and writes about it in such an engaging fashion that this book is hard to put down.

Colley skillfully weaves together the issue of constructing a "British" national identity (one that superimposes itself above English, Scottish, and Welsh identity)with the history of Great Britain in general from 1707-1837, so that one walks away from "Britons" with the feeling that the events of the 18th century were the critical in the idea of what it means to be "British."

I have to admit I wasn't the biggest fan of historical studies of the construction of national identity, but Linda Colley's "Britons" certainly demonstrated just how fascinating a topic it can be- when written properly.