Hugh F. Kearney Boeken

This is a new edition of Hugh Kearney's classic account of the British Isles from pre-Roman times to the present. When this book was first published it was acclaimed as a unique account of British history, distinguished by its treatment of English history as part of a wider 'history of four nations'. Acknowledging the significance of England, it attempts to deal with the histories of Wales, Ireland and Scotland in their own terms, while recognising that they too have political, religious and cultural divides. In this new edition the author takes into account the recent historiographical renaissances in Wales, Ireland and Scotland and examines the rise of a new multi-ethnic Britain and its implications for 'four-nations' history. This book offers a valuable case-study of the complexities which lie behind nationhood in Europe and will be essential reading for all students of British and Irish history.

This is a unique account of the British Isles from pre-Roman times to the twentieth century, distinguished by its stress on the fact that English history forms only part of a wider "history of four nations." To ignore this wider dimension is to distort our view of the past and hinder our understanding of the present. Wide-ranging, the book transforms and challenges traditional accounts of what constitutes national history.