Robbins on Davies, 'The Isles: a History'

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Robbins on Davies, 'The Isles: a History' H-Albion Robbins on Davies, 'The Isles: A History' Review published on Monday, May 1, 2000 Norman Davies. The Isles: A History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. xliii + 1222 pp. $45.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-19-513442-1. Reviewed by Keith Robbins (Vice-Chancellor, University of Wales, Lampeter, Wales, U.K) Published on H-Albion (May, 2000) Capturing Insular Space Fresh from coping with a continent in his magisterial study of Europe, Norman Davies now tackles an equally daunting task -- a comprehensive history of his own country. He is only too aware of the risks entailed in such an undertaking particularly since he freely admits that while himself a British citizen and a professional historian he has no claim to special expertise in the British historical field. His reputation, of course, was initially made as an authority on the history of Poland. Moreover, although it appears that he has put chapters in front of specialists in particular periods of British history to gain their advice he has not been content to summarize what might be taken to be the reigning consensus. His intention, rather, has been to escape from what he calls "the professional game" and engage directly and personally with "the established record of the past." The result is a challenging, stimulating and sometimes irritating volume, and one suspects that Davies would himself have been irritated if he had been thought to have produced a bland and comfortable book in which his readers would have been at ease. The books takes further that scrutiny of the nature of "Britain" and "Britishness" which has been going on for several decades now that the old Anglocentric straitjacket is, as Davies puts it, bursting at the seams. In itself, work by Linda Colley, Hugh Kearney, Rees Davies and this reviewer, amongst many others, is an illustration of the extent to which present political preoccupations can often determine historical agendas. The work which has so far been published would appear to confirm that the old Anglo-framework of insular history will no long suffice. We are now looking at "a pattern of islands" with inhabitants who share "multiple identities": identities which can sometimes conflict as much as they can be beneficially reconciled. No one can tell what the end of this current process of constitutional change will be, but the establishment of a Parliament in Scotland, an Assembly in Wales and a hoped-for Assembly in Northern Ireland, together with a British-Irish Council ("Council of the Isles") which brings together, for as yet limited purposes, representatives from all the legislatures of "The Isles," is an indication that developments are taking place which would scarcely have been conceivable half a century ago. No mention has been made of an English Parliament as part of this process for the simple reason that there isn't one. Whether there ought to be one and, if so, whether it is compatible with the effective functioning of a UK Parliament, remains one of the unresolved and possibly unresolvable issues. These developments are directly addressed in the final pages of the book, but in a sense they inform it from the very beginning. Davies describes himself as belonging to a minority which holds that the break-up of the United Kingdom may be imminent. Writing long-term history, as he puts it, results in the overwhelming impression that all states and empires are ephemeral. The United Kingdom is one of the oldest states Citation: H-Net Reviews. Robbins on Davies, 'The Isles: A History'. H-Albion. 03-26-2014. https://networks.h-net.org/node/16749/reviews/17502/robbins-davies-isles-history Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 1 H-Albion of Europe and there is no reason why it should survive indefinitely. Davies has doubted whether the UK would live to see its three hundredth birthday in 2007, though he now seems to think it may stagger on for a little longer. Incidentally, since in earlier pages, quite rightly, he has been at such pains to distinguish "the United Kingdom" from "Great Britain" it is worth pointing out that it is only "Great Britain," not the present ^ÑUnited Kingdom" which may achieve this tercentenary. Such inevitability as Davies sees in this process of dissolution stems from his conviction that the United Kingdom was created to serve the interests of Empire and that, since a British Empire has evaporated in the space of his lifetime, there is no further reason for its existence. There is truth in this contention, but not the whole truth. Additionally, the existence of the European Union provides an opportunity for all sorts of communities -- excluded in the era of the supposedly national sovereign state -- to have their own place in the sun. One may hope that this will be the case but oddly, in his zeal to show the frailty of "Britishness," he does not bring the same degree of critical detachment when talking about "the Welsh" or "the Scots." Their identity seems to be thought unambiguous and firm whereas an equal degree of frailty might be discerned. Anyway, it follows, he thinks, that gloom about "the decline of Britain" is misplaced and that even if Britain does break up all that is really valuable would remain -- though he doesn't give much attention to what might be lost. It is no accident that confronted with the admitted difficulties surrounding the word "British" he abandons it completely in his title. Other islands around the world might find the use of the definite article somewhat presumptuous! It may seem odd in a review of such a long book to dwell on its coda, but it is a coda which determines the structure of the book as a whole and delineates its underlying themes and arguments. Along the way, old problems and issues are looked at from fresh perspectives as we see and understand more fully the complex pattern of insular relationships now once again dynamic within "the Isles." The very fact that he brings to that history a mind soaked in centuries of "European history" gives him a vantage point which too many writers on "British history" have not possessed. By the same token, however, the fact that he is not a "British specialist" does mean that there are a disconcerting number of slips and errors in this account, many small in themselves, which somewhat undermine one's confidence from time to time. Nevertheless, such errors apart, this is a richly challenging book, even if, like this reviewer, one thinks there is more to be said for ^ÑBritishness' than Davies allows. Copyright (c) 2000 by H-Net, all rights reserved. This work may be copied for non-profit educational use if proper credit is given to the author and the list. For other permission, please contact [email protected]. Printable Version: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=4133 Citation: Keith Robbins. Review of Davies, Norman, The Isles: A History. H-Albion, H-Net Reviews. May, 2000. URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=4133 Copyright © 2000 by H-Net, all rights reserved. H-Net permits the redistribution and reprinting of this work for nonprofit, educational purposes, with full and accurate attribution to the author, web location, date of publication, originating list, and H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online. For any other proposed use, contact the Reviews editorial staff at [email protected]. Citation: H-Net Reviews. Robbins on Davies, 'The Isles: A History'. H-Albion. 03-26-2014. https://networks.h-net.org/node/16749/reviews/17502/robbins-davies-isles-history Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 2.
Recommended publications
  • Stonehill College Europe Challenged
    Stonehill College April 14, 2016 Europe Challenged J. Brian Atwood It is a real pleasure to visit Stonehill. I thank Professor Anna Ohanyan for inviting me here today. Professor Ohanyan has done impressive scholarly work in her field. We met at the Watson Institute at Brown a few months ago participating in a symposium on the Dayton agreement on Bosnia. I want to talk to you today about the European Project—the 50­year effort to build an integrated, secure, democratic and prosperous Europe. Even casual observers would conclude that it is not going well today. Europe is under attack from within and without. This sad state of affairs should be of great concern to the United States; yet it appears that we are at risk of writing an American version of John F. Kennedy’s 1940 book “While England Slept.” Our approach to Europe today seriously underestimates the nature of the crisis. We hear a great deal about the terrorist attacks and the refugee and migrant crisis. However, this is the tip of a very dangerous iceberg. There is no denying the stresses these issues are creating, but there are also underlying threats that receive far less attention. Our presidential candidates tend to ignore these threats. Or worse in the case of Donald Trump who has questioned our 1 commitment to NATO at a time when the deterrent value of this alliance is arguably more important than ever. Even President Obama in his now well­read Atlantic magazine interview complains that European leaders need to do more while he states his own preference to look towards Asia.
    [Show full text]
  • Departmental Seminars - Spring Term 2007/08
    Departmental Seminars - Spring term 2007/08 The department puts on two separate seminar programmes: the Departmental Seminars (DS) and the Research Seminars (RS). The Departmental Seminars are joint seminars, organized by 2 or more professors (convenors), and are essentially teaching seminars, aimed at examining broad developments within the discipline, and exploring major theoretical and methodological issues. Each semester the department will put on 5 to 6 Departmental Seminars (8 to 9 sessions per semester). Alongside the Departmental Seminars are the Research Seminars (8 to 9 sessions per semester) which are organized by individual professors (or in some cases jointly organized by 2 professors). The Research Seminars are intended as specialized seminars dealing with the research in progress of professors, researchers and visiting scholars. Researchers normally attend the Research Seminars of their supervisors. First year researchers are required to take 3 seminars in the autumn semester (RS or DS) and two seminars in the spring semester (RS or DS). Of these five seminars the researcher has to choose two DS. A researcher is not confined to the Departmental Seminars offered by the Department of History, but may, where appropriate and with the approval of her/his supervisor, take a seminar offered by another department. The Department formally requires you to register with Mr. Sergio Amadei the titles of the seminars, which you must attend during each of your first and second semesters of study. During the autumn semester all first year researchers will be required to hand in a written presentation and to give an oral presentation upon the subject of 2 of the seminars that they are attending.
    [Show full text]
  • Thanks to William Szych for Starting This Reading List. Most of the Books Below Can Be Found on Amazon Or Other Sites Where
    Thanks to William Szych for starting this reading list. Most of the books below can be found on Amazon or other sites where you can read reviews of the books (Google Search). Remember you can usually request your local library to get books for you through regional book-lending agreements. If you know of other books that you think should be added, let us know. This list includes some works of historical fiction. 1. 22 Britannia Road, a novel by Amanda Hodgkinson 2. 303 Squadron: The Legendary Battle of Britain Fighter Squadron 3. A Death in the Forest (Poland’s Daughter: A Story of Love, War, and Exile) by Daniel Ford 4. A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True, by Brigid Pasulka 5. A Memoir of the Warsaw Uprising, by Miron Bialoszewski 6. A Question of Honor: The Kosciuszko Squadron: Forgotten Heroes of World War II. Lynne Olson and Stanley Cloud 7. A Secret Life: The Polish Officer, His Covert Mission, and the Price He Paid to Save His Country, by Benjamin Weiser 8. A World Apart: Imprisonment in a Soviet Labor Camp During World War II 9. An Army in Exile—the Story of the Second Polish Corps, by Lt. General W. Anders 10. Andrew Bienkowski: One life to Give: A Path to Finding Yourself by Helping Others 11. Andrzej Pityński Sculpture. Anna Chudzik (Editor), Andrzej K. Olszewski, Irena Grzesiuk-Olszewska (Introduction) 12. As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me by Josef Bauer 13. Bieganski: The Brute Polak Stereotype in Polish-Jewish Relations and American Popular Culture by Danusha Goska 14.
    [Show full text]
  • Not Even Past." William Faulkner NOT EVEN PAST
    "The past is never dead. It's not even past." William Faulkner NOT EVEN PAST Search the site ... The Isles: A History, by Like 20 Norman Davies (1999) Tweet By Mark Sheaves On September 18 the Scottish people will vote to decide whether the country should withdraw from the United Kingdom. Over the summer the polls have swung back and forth, and as the referendum draws closer the competing campaigns have intensied. Nationalist rhetoric prevails on both sides, with historical examples deployed to either highlight injustices or moments of peaceful prosperous union. Indeed, the historical animosity felt by many Scots towards the ruling Conservative party seems to be worrying the Prime Minister, David Cameron. Demonstrating his lack of faith in the Scottish people’s decision-making faculties he urged voters last week not to break up the union just to give the “eng Tories a kick”. The history of the relationship between the two kingdoms is vital for both camps, but surely it is more complicated than historical subjection or fraternal cooperation. Exploring the millennium long relationship between England and Scotland – as George Christian also did in his NEP article last Monday – we can begin to comprehend the complicated issues at stake in this referendum and the possible ramications. Few have tackled such a large topic, but one book that has is Norman Davies’ The Isles: A History. Published in 1999, The Isles, traces the development of the political entities and cultural identities inhabiting the archipelagos currently divided into the nations of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
    [Show full text]
  • Antiquaries in the Age of Romanticism: 1789-1851
    Antiquaries in the Age of Romanticism: 1789-1851 Rosemary Hill Queen Mary, University of London Submitted for the degree of PhD March 2011 1 I confirm that the work presented in this thesis and submitted for the degree of PhD is my own. Rosemary Hill 2 Abstract The thesis concentrates on the work of fourteen antiquaries active in the period from the French Revolution to the Great Exhibition in England, Scotland and France. I have used a combination of the antiquaries’ published works, which cover, among other subjects, architecture, topography, costume history, Shakespeare and the history of furniture, alongside their private papers to develop an account of that lived engagement with the past which characterised the romantic period. It ends with the growing professionalistion and specialisation of historical studies in the mid-nineteenth century which left little room for the self-generating, essentially romantic antiquarian enterprise. In so far as this subject has been considered at all it has been in the context of what has come to be called ‘the invention of tradition’. It is true that the romantic engagement with history as narrative led to some elaboration of the facts, while the newness of the enterprise laid it open to mistakes. I have not ignored this. The restoration of the Bayeux Tapestry, the forged tartans of the Sobieski Stuarts and the creation of Shakespeare’s Birthplace are all considered. Overall, however, I have been concerned not to debunk but as it were to ‘rebunk’, to see the antiquaries in their historical context and, as far as possible, in their own terms.
    [Show full text]
  • Debates on the Holocaust and the Legacy of Anti-Semitism in Poland
    Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2015 The Memory Wars: Debates on the Holocaust and the Legacy of anti-Semitism in Poland Jonathan Andrew Bergquist Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Bergquist, Jonathan Andrew, "The Memory Wars: Debates on the Holocaust and the Legacy of anti- Semitism in Poland" (2015). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 5188. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/5188 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you must obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in WVU Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports collection by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Memory Wars: Debates on the Holocaust and the Legacy of anti-Semitism in Poland Jonathan Andrew Bergquist Thesis submitted to the College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History Robert Blobaum, Ph.D., Chair Joshua Arthurs, Ph.D. Joseph Hodge, Ph.D. Department of History Morgantown, West Virginia 2015 Keywords: Polish-Jewish Relations; the Holocaust; Collective Memory; anti-Semitism Copyright 2015 Jonathan Andrew Bergquist ABSTRACT The Memory Wars: Debates on the Holocaust and the Legacy of anti-Semitism in Poland Jonathan Andrew Bergquist The process of Vergangenheitsbewältigung, or mastering the past, is often slow and painful.
    [Show full text]
  • The German Lands and Eastern Europe
    THE GERMAN LANDS AND EASTERN EUROPE STUDIES IN RUSSIA AND EAST EUROPE This series includes books on general, political, historical, economic and cultural themes relating to Russia and East Europe written or edited by members of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in the University of London, or by authors working in association with the School. Recent titles include: Roger Bartlett and Karen Schon walder (editors) THE GERMAN LANDS AND EASTERN EUROPE Essays on the History of their Social, Cultural and Political Relations John Channon (editor) POLmCS, SOCIETY AND STALINISM IN THE USSR Geoffrey Hosking and Robert Service (editors) RUSSIAN NATIONALISM, PAST AND PRESENT Krystyna Iglicka and Keith Sword (editors) THE CHALLENGE OF EAST-WEST MIGRATION FOR POLAND Marja Nissinen LATVIA'S TRANSITION TO A MARKET ECONOMY Political Determinants of Economic Reform Policy Jeremy Smith THE BOLSHEVIKS AND THE NATIONAL QUESTION, 1917-23 Jeanne Sutherland SCHOOLING IN THE NEW RUSSIA Innovation and Change, 1984-95 Keith Sword DEPORTATION AND EXILE Poles in the Soviet Union, 1939-48 Studies in Russia and East Europe Series Standing Order ISBN 978-0-333-71018-0 (outside North America onLy) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG2l
    [Show full text]
  • The Old-New Arenas of Imperialism – Western Asia and North Africa
    Kraków 2015 © Copyright by Villa Decius Association 2015 Edited by: Danuta Glondys, Ph.D. Ziemowit Jóźwik Coedited by: Dominika Kasprowicz, Ph.D. Conference concept: Dominika Kasprowicz, Wojciech Przybylski Cooperation: Olga Glondys Translation: Piotr Krasnowolski Proofreading: Martin Cahn Photographs: Tomasz Kizny Paweł Mazur Design and composition: Piotr Hrehorowicz, Małgorzata Punzet, Inter Line SC Printed by: Drukarnia Leyko sp. z o.o. The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Villa Decius Association. ISBN 978-83-61600-05-3 Introduction Dominika The first fifteen years of the twenty-first century have opened a new chapter in the world’s history. Kasprowicz | In analysts’ opinion, its current content and following pages will be filled primarily with geopolitical events and technological innovations. The former will mainly include relatively new international conflicts (like in Libya, Syria and Ukraine) and escalation of the ongoing wars in Africa (Somalia, Sudan) and Middle East. The second subsection of the new chapter will deal with socio-political issues, especially growing protests against corporate globalization and their influence on institutions of liberal democracy. The last critical factor that manifests itself in various places of the world is the fundamentalist threat to the West. All three themes, their origins and results are nothing new in a sense that they fit into a global pattern of the rise and fall of societies traceable back to the ancient times. However, the cycle of rise and decline appears to be accelerating under the influence of the digital revolution and technological innovations.
    [Show full text]
  • JRA 401 H1S/ Pol 2321 H1S: Topics in Comparative Politics: Western and Central Europe Meeting Times: Thursdays, 2-4Pm, TC 24
    Course Title: JRA 401 H1S/ Pol 2321 H1S: Topics in Comparative Politics: Western and Central Europe Meeting Times: Thursdays, 2-4pm, TC 24 Prof. Randall Hansen, University of Toronto Office: Munk N 126 Office Hours: Wednesdays, 2-4pm The course will examine the German occupation of Western and Central Europe by studying four great cities – two global capitals, two national capitals – under German occupation. The workshop will examine both high-level political issues – the aims of both the German leadership and the collaborators in the cities – and daily life under German occupation. Themes will include but not be limited to the military occupation and military resistance (when there was any), treatment of the Jews, sex and sexuality, the economy under occupation, resistance to National Socialism, and liberation. The theoretical issues will focus on cities as spaces of occupation, collaboration, and resistance, interactions between occupier and occupied (and the blurring of the lines between the two), and variation in experiences of occupation between cities and across religious, racial and class lines within them. Requirements: 1. 1-page research proposal (10%) Due date: February 9, 2016 2. 2000-word research paper: (55%) Due date: March 23, 2016 3. Take-home final exam (25%) Pick-up date: March 30, 2016 4. Participation (10%) Due date: April 3, noon, reception, Munk School of Global Affairs Readings: All readings are available at: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0w9W28PMIORWXlCSlBlVmZBVEE January 5: Introduction January 12: Background: France, Poland, Czech Republic and Austria in the 1930s Steven Beller, A Concise History of Austria. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, chapter 5.
    [Show full text]
  • History, Memory and National Identity Understanding the Politics of History and Memory Wars in Post-Soviet Lands
    History, Memory and National Identity Understanding the Politics of History and Memory Wars in Post-Soviet Lands Igor Torbakov Abstract: Over the past several decades, the “politics of history” has become a significant aspect of domestic politics and international relations within Europe and around the world. The politicizing and instrumentalizing of history usually pursues two main objectives: first is the construction of a maximally cohesive national identity and rallying the society around the powers that be; second is eschewing the problem of guilt. The two are clearly interlinked; having liberated oneself of the sense of historical, political, moral or whatever responsibility, it is arguably much easier to take pride in one’s newly minted “unblem- ished” identity based on the celebratory interpretation of one’s country’s “glorious past.” This article intends to explore how the memories of some momentous developments in the tumultuous 20th century (above all, the experience of totalitarian dictatorships, World War II, the “division” and “reunification” of Europe, the collapse of the Soviet Union) and their historical interpretations relate to concepts of national identity in the post-Soviet lands. Keywords: history, memory, identity, politics of history, Russia, Eastern Europe Tell me what you remember and I’ll diagnose your condition —Aleksandr Kustaryov1 t the end of June 2010, a remarkable text appeared on the website of the Russian A liberal radio station Ekho Moskvy. Its author, the prominent Russian lawmaker Kon- stantin Kosachev, suggested that it was time for Russia to elaborate upon what he called a comprehensive “set of principles, an ‘historical doctrine’ of sorts” that would help Moscow Igor Torbakov is currently a Visiting Fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin.
    [Show full text]
  • Smug Britannia: the Dominance of (The) English in Current History Writing and Its Pathologies
    Smug Britannia: The Dominance of (the) English in Current History Writing and Its Pathologies PETER BALDWIN 1 Richard Evans, in his recent inaugural lecture as Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge, claimed that British historians are more cosmopolitan than their continental European colleagues. They write more about other nations and they participate more in debates abroad. If true, this is a provocative assertion, raising the question as to why some cultures are curious about the world, while others rest self-contentedly in themselves. If restless curiosity about the world is laudable, then it is rare that a prominent historian trumpets the virtues of his country. Only in the nineteenth century did historians proclaim national pre-eminence, practically as part of their jobs. For Evans praises not just his colleagues. His tribute is to the cultural curiosity of the English-speaking world. ‘Anglophone societies’, he approvingly quotes a colleague, ‘seem to be fundamentally as interested in the pasts of other cultures as they are in their own’ (p. 8). Much of the book into which Evans’s lecture was padded (Cosmopolitan Islanders: British Historians and the European Continent, Oxford, 2009)isgivenoverto summaries of modern British historiography and excerpts from colleagues’ emails. The interesting parts are quantitative. He has classified historians in the UK and US, France, Germany and Italy – whether they work on their national histories, on foreign countries, or on both. English-speaking historians, Evans shows, are much more active in writing the history of other countries than is true – mutatis mutandis – on the continent. Over half of Italian historians are working on their own nation.
    [Show full text]
  • Written Contribution: Citations
    PRESENTATION Written contribution: citations Putting together a written contribution is more than cutting and pasting material you’ve copied (or copied from the Internet and put into your own text). You have to put the content into your own words and cite particularly important segments, in order to be able to comment on them and to incorporate them into your own argument. Why are citations important? The written word as well as works of art are described as “literary property,” so the originator of certain ideas, works or scientifi c discoveries must be named. Whoever fails to do so is committing plagiarism – that is, theft of literary property. Why citations? There are rules for citations: A quote is marked by quotation marks. If you cite someone, you have to use his or her exact words (spoken or written). Rules If you leave out something, you must note that using parentheses and an for citations ellipsis: (…). You must always give the source of a quote. This also applies if you write passages that are very similar to, or that summarize, another text. If you use images in your contribution, you must indicate their origin (for example, name the book or archive where the image is located). In a conversation, the date and the names of the interviewer and interviewee must be given. A transcript of the interview, or the most important passages of the interview, should be included in the appendix. With Internet sites, the web address and the date (on which the information was downloaded) must be given. The site in question should also be included in the appendix.
    [Show full text]