This is an interpretative study of the idea of Britain, examining the transformation of a sectarian concept into an imperial ideology forged during a period of sustained warfare in Europe and ever-expanding areas beyond Europe during the second half of the Eighteenth century. It seeks to examine constitutional history from a non-Anglocentric perspective and to relocate it to historiographical developments in Social History and the History of Ideas. Based on more than 25 years of research, it seeks to examine critically a concept which increasingly has come under public debate during the past decade.

ALEXANDER MURDOCH is Senior Lecturer in Scottish History at the University of Edinburgh, UK.

Introduction: Region and Locality
The Stuart Monarchy and the Idea of Britain
James Loses the Kingdoms: The Revolutions of 1688 in their British Context
The Union of England and Scotland and the Development of the Hanoverian State
The Idea of Britain and the Creation of the First British Empire
Peripheral Nations? Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Provincial England
Cultural Politics: National Culture in a Metropolitan State
The American Revolution and the Origins of the Second British Empire
War and Nation 1793-1815: British Identity and the New Empire
Empire and its Discontents: English Nationalism and the Imperial State
Notes
Bibliography
Index.