Britain Before Brexit

Bernard Porter is Emeritus Professor of Modern History, University of Newcastle, UK. He is a regular contributor to LRB, TLS, Literary Review, Guardian, History Today, academic journals and has lectured around the world. Alongside this, he has also appeared on national radio and television shows. He is based in Stockholm, Sweden.

• List of Illustrations PrefacePart I: Introduction: Britain and the worldChapter 1. Britain & Europe, 40,000 BCE to the PresentChapter 2. EmpirePart II: Britons and EuropeChapter 3. Britons in Europe: the 19th CenturyChapter 4. Britain and AsylumPart III: An Orcadian AbroadChapter 5. Samuel Laing, Traveller and PhilosopherChapter 6. The PhilistinePart IV: War in EuropeChapter 7. World War I: GallipoliChapter 8. World War II: ChurchillChapter 9. The Home FrontChapter 10. On the MarginsPart V: PeaceChapter 11. Hope and DeclineChapter 12: Thatcher’s TimePart VI: What Now?Chapter 13. Secrets and LiesChapter 14. The Battle for Brexit Epilogue: National IdentityFurther ReadingIndex

Bernard Porter explains how an understanding of the history of the British Empire helps to explain Britain’s fundamental ‘national identity’ before and after Brexit—paradoxically with the driving theme that national independence is a myth. A riveting, lucid, and highly readable book.