In a year that sees a Scottish referendum on independence, the author analyses some of the forces that have unified Britain in the past. She examines the mythology of Britishness, and how far and why it has faded. She discusses the Acts of Union with Wales, Scotland and Ireland,…
The United Kingdom; Great Britain; the British Isles; the Home Nations: such a wealth of different names implies uncertainty and contention - and an ability to invent and adjust. In a year that sees a Scottish referendum on independence, Linda Colley analyses some of the forces …
An extraordinary outbreak of xenophobic violence in May 2008 shocked South Africa, but hostility toward newcomers has a long history. Democratization has channeled such discontent into a non-racial nationalism that specifically targets foreign Africans as a threat to prosperity.…
"Why do countries celebrate defining religious moments or significant events in their history, and how and why do their leaders select certain events for commemoration and not others? This book is the first systematic study of the role of celebrations and public holidays in the …
"Why do countries celebrate defining religious moments or significant events in their history, and how and why do their leaders select certain events for commemoration and not others? This book is the first systematic study of the role of celebrations and public holidays in the …
This book focuses on the role of memory and its revision and erasure in the ninth to eleventh centuries C.E. Through starkly different early Arabic and and Islamic accounts of the past, a new "Persian" ethnic identity emerged. This book examines those revisions to memory in a wi…
History education is the official version of modern national identities. This book is a remarkable unveiling of how three countries changed their portrayal of history after disastrous defeat in World War II. The book traces these portrayals through extensive, over-time middle sc…