Protestantism and National Identity Britain and Ireland, c.1650c.1850 [Paperback]

A challenge to the much-promoted thesis that Protestantism was central to the rise of Britain as a world power.The years 1650 1850 saw the creation of the United Kingdom and its emergence as a world power. According to much recent literature - especially Linda Colley's Britons--protestantism was central to this process, giving the British a sense of uniqueness, unity and imperial destiny. This collection of essays examines and challenges this religious contribution to 'Britishness' and suggests radical new ways to understand the 'British problem' and British and Irish development during the 'long eighteenth century'.The years 1650 1850 saw the creation of the United Kingdom and its emergence as a world power. According to much recent literature - especially Linda Colley's Britons--protestantism was central to this process, giving the British a sense of uniqueness, unity and imperial destiny. This collection of essays examines and challenges this religious contribution to 'Britishness' and suggests radical new ways to understand the 'British problem' and British and Irish development during the 'long eighteenth century'.The years 1650-1850 saw the creation of the United Kingdom and its emergence as a world power. According to much recent literature--especially Linda Colley's Britons--Protestantism was central to this process, giving the British a sense of uniqueness, unity and imperial destiny. This collection of essays examines and challenges this religious contribution to Britishness and suggests radical new ways to understand the British problem and British and Irish development during the long eighteenth century. List of contributors; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Part I. Introduction: 1. The trials of the chosen peoples: recent interpretations of Protestantism and national identity in Britain and Ireland Tony Claydon and Ian McBride; Part II. England: 2. 'I love my King and my Country, but a Roman Catholic I hate': anti-catholicism, xenophobia anl£*