Product Description

This study, resulting from a lifetime of detailed research, challenges the very idea of "England" and what it means to be English. Dr Jones has examined the origins of the sense of English identity that persists today and here reveals a fresh perspective on how it came about. Many leaders have recognized the crucial importance of history in the construction of national identity. Hitler provides an extreme example of this in the 20th century. The possibility that the process of historical reinterpretation attempted in Germany may also have taken place centuries before in England has not, however, until the publication of this work, been properly addressed. With the loss of empire and the concern over Europe, England is in search of a new role. This study explores how events in England's past have affected how its people feel about their country, and its future.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #467421 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review
Forty years in the gestation, this book now makes a timely appearance. Jones's stimulating argument is that the reluctance of the English to see themselves as European derives from myths propagated about the origins of the nation in the 16th century. After the Reformation, the Tudor propaganda machine fabricated the notion that this 'sceptred isle' had always had different religious and political traditions from the papist countries of the continent who had succeeded in enslaving it. But with Henry VIII's break from Rome England became the 'elect nation' of God. The sense of superiority and the xenophobia which this view engendered helped to justify the imperialist policies of the future and sustained the country even during the wars of this century. Until very recently the 'Whig interpretation of history' upheld a distorted view of the past which continues to damage our relations with Europe. A well-researched and thought-provoking read. (Kirkus UK)

About the Author
Edwin Jones held a research fellowship at the University of Cambridge, before embarking on a long and successful career in education, including thirty years as a headteacher of a comprehensive school in South Wales. He lives in Swansea.

Customer Reviews

Tony Blair is a sincere politcan who restrained Bush
I accidentally went to the end of the book and discovered a long - over 75 pages - afterword and epilogue in which the author really did claim that Blair was an honest politician. And that Blair was working to restrain Bush from unilateral action against Iraq and keep Bush working through the UN. This was published in 2003. After which the book went in the bin. A historian who regards Blair as honest - what is the point of reading the book? It is not just being that wrong but that the author has a different definition of telling the truth from most people and there is no point in reading history written by a person with this concept of truthfulness