British Historians and National Identity

Two eminent scholars of historiography examine the concept of national identity through the key multi-volume histories of the last two hundred years. Starting with Hume’s History of England (1754–62), they explore the work of British historians whose work had a popular readership and an influence on succeeding generations of British children. Introduction; Chapter 1 Demythologizing the Nation’s Past: David Hume’s History of England; Chapter 2 Catharine Macaulay’s Vindication of Radicalism and the Republican Tradition; Chapter 3 Reassessing Religion and the National Narrative: John Lingard and the English Reformation; Chapter 4 Placing the Constitution at the Heart of National Identity: Henry Hallam and Constitutional History; Chapter 5 Thomas Babington Macaulay: Writing the History of a Progressive People; Chapter 6 The Glories of the Reformation and the Origins of Empire: J. A. Froude’s Celebration of the Tudor Era; Chapter 7 Edward Augustus Freeman: Liberal Democracy and National Identity; Chapter 8 William Stubbs: The Continuity of English History as National Identity; Chapter 9 Celebrating the People: J. R. Green’s Short History; Chapter 10 Samuel Rawson Gardiner: Incorporating Dissent into the National Story; Chapter 11 In Thrall to English Tradition and Character: G. M. Trevelyan’s Panoramic Histories of the Island Race; Chapter 12 The Anglosphere as Global Model: Winston Churchill’s History of the English-Speaking Peoples; conclusion Conclusion;