How was Great Britain made? And what does it mean to be British? This brilliant and seminal book examines how a more cohesive British nation was invented after 1707 and how this new national identity was nurtured through war, religion, trade, and empire. Lavishly illustrated and powerful, Britons remains a major contribution to our understanding of Britain’s past, and continues to influence ongoing controversies about this polity’s survival and future. This edition contains an extensive new preface by the author.
“A sweeping survey, . . . evocatively illustrated and engagingly written.”—Harriet Ritvo, New York Times Book Review
“Challenging, fascinating, enormously well informed.”—John Barrell, London Review of Books
“Linda Colley writes with clarity and grace...Her stimulating book will be, and deserves to be influential”—E. P. Thompson, Dissent
Linda Colley is Shelby M. C. Davis 1958 Professor of History at Princeton University.
Winner of the Wolfson History Prize
A New York Times NotableBook
Industry Reviews
"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"
