This sovereign isle

Tombs, Robert

£16.99

Geography comes before history. Islands cannot have the same history as continental plains. The United Kingdom is a European country, but not the same kind of European country as Germany, Poland or Hungary. For most of the 150 centuries during which Britain has been inhabited it has been on the edge, culturally and literally, of mainland Europe. In this succinct book, Tombs shows that the decision to leave the EU is historically explicable – though not made historically inevitable – by Britain’s very different historical experience, especially in the twentieth century, and because of our more extensive and deeper ties outside Europe.

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Publish Date: 28/01/2021

Description

THE TOP TEN SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

The author of the celebrated bestseller The English and Their History puts Brexit in its historical context

Geography comes before history. Islands cannot have the same history as continental plains. The United Kingdom is a European country, but not the same kind of European country as Germany, Poland or Hungary. For most of the 150 centuries during which Britain has been inhabited it has been on the edge, culturally and literally, of mainland Europe.

In this succinct book, Tombs shows that the decision to leave the EU is historically explicable – though not made historically inevitable – by Britain’s very different historical experience, especially in the twentieth century, and because of our more extensive and deeper ties outside Europe. He challenges the orthodox view that Brexit was due solely to British or English exceptionalism: in choosing to leave the EU, the British, he argues, were in many ways voting as typical Europeans.

Additional information

Weight 362 g
Dimensions 222 × 144 × 24 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Hardback

Pages

ix, 203

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

941 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K