Englishness Identified Manners and Character 1650-1850 |
|
| Author:
| Langford, Paul |
| ISBN: | 978-0-19-820681-1 |
| Publication Date: | May 2000 |
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press, Incorporated
|
| Book Format: | Hardback |
| List Price: | USD $99.00 |
Book Description:
|
In the seventeenth century the English were often depicted as a nation of barbarians, fanatics, and king-killers. Two hundred years later they were more likely to be seen as the triumphant possessors of a unique political stability, a vigorous industrial revolution, and a world-wide empire. These may have been British achievements; but the virtues which brought about this transformation were perceived as being specifically English. Ideas of what constituted Englishness changed from a...
More DescriptionIn the seventeenth century the English were often depicted as a nation of barbarians, fanatics, and king-killers. Two hundred years later they were more likely to be seen as the triumphant possessors of a unique political stability, a vigorous industrial revolution, and a world-wide empire. These may have been British achievements; but the virtues which brought about this transformation were perceived as being specifically English. Ideas of what constituted Englishness changed from a stock notion of waywardness and unpredictability to one of discipline and dedication. The evolution of the so-called national character today once more the subject of scrutiny and debate is traced through the impressions and analyses of foreign observers, and related to English ambitions and anxieties during a period of intense change.