Protestantism and National Identity: Britain and Ireland, c.1650-c.1850

This volume traces the complex contribution which protestantism made to national identity in the British Isles between the Stuart and the Victorian age. Often challenging existing work, the essays both question whether nationalism was a secular and ‘modern’ phenomenon, and ask whether Protestantism could support any simple vision of a united, imperial, and ‘elect’ Britain. Covering a wide variety of subjects, the authors show that whilst the reformed faith was always central to ‘British’ self-awareness, it could also divide the peoples of Britain and Ireland, could cast doubt on their greatness, and could dissolve any insistence on the uniqueness of these nations. The collection thus takes the study of religion’s contribution to nationality beyond simple acknowledgement of its importance, and suggests radical new ways to understand British and Irish development during the ‘long eighteenth century’.