Protestantism and National Identity
Protestantism and National Identity
This volume traces the complex contribution which Protestantism made to national identity in the British Isles between the Stuart and the Victorian ages. Often challenging existing work, the essays both question whether nationalism was a secular and 'modern' phenomenon, and ask whether Protestantism could support any simple vision of a united, imperial and 'elect' Britain. Covering a wide variety of subjects, the authors show that whilst the reformed faith was always central to 'British' self-awareness, it could also divide the peoples of Britain and Ireland, could cast doubt on their greatness, and could dissolve any insistence on the uniqueness of these nations. The collection thus takes the study of religion's contribution to nationality beyond simple acknowledgement of its importance, and suggests ways to understand British and Irish development during the 'long eighteenth century'.
- 'Nationalism' is a hot topic in history and politics
- Argues against view put forward by Linda Colley in her best-selling Britons
- Includes discussion of fundamental issue in Irish history
Reviews & endorsements
"Protestantism and National Identity is thus an important volume, amply demonstrating the importance of religion for any discussion of national identity with the English-speaking world,....Editors and contributors alike are to be congratulated for sticking so successfully to a common agenda while at the same time remaining willing to challenge, and where necessary subvert, its basic assumptions." S.J. Connolly, Church History
Product details
February 1999Hardback
9780521620772
330 pages
229 × 152 × 19 mm
0.61kg
1 b/w illus.
Available
Table of Contents
- List of contributors
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- Part I. Introduction:
- 1. The trials of the chosen peoples: recent interpretations of Protestantism and national identity in Britain and Ireland Tony Claydon and Ian McBride
- Part II. England:
- 2. 'I love my King and my Country, but a Roman Catholic I hate': anti-catholicism, xenophobia and national identity in eighteenth-century England Colin Haydon
- 3. Confessional state or elect nation? Religion and identity in eighteenth-century England Jeremy Black
- 4. 'To protect English liberties': the English nationalist revolution of 1688–1689 Steven Pincus
- 5. A history of variations: the identity of the eighteenth-century church of England Brian Young
- Part III. Britain and Ireland:
- 6. The British dimension, religion and the shaping of political identities during the reign of Charles II Tim Harris
- 7. The bible and national identity in the British Isles, c.1650–c.1750 Scott Mandelbrote
- 8. Protestantism, Presbyterianism and national identity in eighteenth-century Scottish history David Allan
- 9. Protestantism, ethnicity and Irish identities, 1660–1760 Toby Barnard
- 10. 'The common name of Irishman': Protestantism and patriotism in eighteenth-century Ireland Ian McBride
- Part IV. Britain, Ireland and the World:
- 11. The island race: Captain Cook, Protestant evangelicalism and the construction of English national identity, 1760–1800 Kathleen Wilson
- 12. A transatlantic perspective: Protestantism and national identities in mid-nineteenth-century Britain and the United States John Wolffe
- Index.
