The Break-Up of Britain: Crisis and Neo-Nationalism

(Paperback, 3rd New edition)

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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 books enduring relevance.

Reviews

The most forceful and original mind to confront, demask and anatomise the British state. The perception that Great Britain was a multinational state and not a united nation had never quite been lost over the centuries, but it was Tom Nairn who almost single-handedly hammered this truth into the skull of British intellectuals and campaigners until it became - as it is today - practically uncontested by the political class -- Neal Ascherson
The Break-Up of Britain is Tom Nairn's greatest book. A potent and long-lasting challenge * Scotsman *
Tom Nairn pioneered critical retrospect of the United Kingdom, and scandalised people by looking forward calmly to its disintegration. This in a style of extraordinary vigour and beauty - and not least humour: writing as democratic as his own unswerving politics -- Perry Anderson
Tom Nairn's fundamental insight was to recognise that the United Kingdom was an imperial construct, and that the ties that once bound the people of these islands were fraying * New Statesman *
More than anyone else, Tom Nairn has shaped how we think about the United Kingdom and its creaking constitutional architecture. The national conversation he started, the national journey he so profoundly shaped in his work, is far from over * Herald *
Powerful and prophetic. Nairn is perhaps Britain's most perceptive and ambitious national storyteller, an audaciously creative stylist. -- New Statesman * Rory Scothorne *
Combines often stunning writing with immense knowledge of literature, history, and political philosophy ... Nairn has made a priceless contribution towards a desperately needed new discourse. * The Hindu *
The most significant book on British politics of the past half-century -- Anthony Barnett * openDemocracy *

Author Bio

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.