Overview

In this classic text, first published in 1977, Tom Nairn memorably depicts the ‘slow foundering’ of the United Kingdom on the rocks of imperial decline, constitutional anachronism and the gathering force of civic nationalism. Rich in comparisons between the nationalisms of the British Isles and those of the wider world, thoughtful in its treatment of the interaction between nationality and social class, The Break-Up of Britain concludes with a bravura essay on the Janus-faced nature of national identity. Postscripts from the Thatcher and Blair years trace the political strategies whose upshot accelerated the demise of a British state they were intended to serve. As a second Scottish independence referendum beckons, a new Introduction by Anthony Barnett underlines the book’s enduring relevance.

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9781781683200

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The most forceful and original mind to confront, demask and anatomise the British state. -Neal Ascherson, London Review of Books A luminous guide to the morbidities unleashed by the relentless machinery of post-imperial decline. -Paul Gilroy Tom Nairn pioneered critical retrospect of the United Kingdom, and scandalised people by looking forward calmly to its disintegration. -Perry Anderson A creative intellectual toolkit for a political emergency, assisting Scots, Welsh and English democrats alike to finally break the chains of Westminster. -Hilary Wainwright Densely and brilliantly argued ... original and perceptive. -Economist Burning-glass of a mind ... disconcerting in its withering contempt not only for the British state but for everything associated with it. -Guardian Vitriolic wit ... The method is resolutely materialist. -Time Out The intellectual godfather of modern Scottish nationalism. -Herald

The most forceful and original mind to confront, demask and anatomise the British state. --Neal Ascherson, London Review of Books A luminous guide to the morbidities unleashed by the relentless machinery of post-imperial decline. --Paul Gilroy Tom Nairn pioneered critical retrospect of the United Kingdom, and scandalised people by looking forward calmly to its disintegration. --Perry Anderson A creative intellectual toolkit for a political emergency, assisting Scots, Welsh and English democrats alike to finally break the chains of Westminster. --Hilary Wainwright Densely and brilliantly argued ... original and perceptive. --Economist Burning-glass of a mind ... disconcerting in its withering contempt not only for the British state but for everything associated with it. --Guardian Vitriolic wit ... The method is resolutely materialist. --Time Out The intellectual godfather of modern Scottish nationalism. --Herald

Author Information

Tom Nairn's many books include The Break-up of Britain, Faces of Nationalism, After Britain, and The Enchanted Glass. He writes for, among others, New Left Review and the London Review of Books.

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