Description: This book breaks new ground in tracing the evolving and contested understandings both of Britain and of Europe on the part of politicians, diplomats, historians and travelers in the centuries since the French Revolution.
Brief description: KEITH ROBBINS was formerly Professor of History at Bangor and Glasgow universities in the UK, and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wales.
Review Quotes:
"This is a very cogent and scholarly piece of work that will prove to be a valuable addition to the existing literature. It is engagingly and elegantly written, and moves along smoothly like a Rolls Royce engine." --Thomas Otte, Reviews Editor, Diplomacy and Statecraft
"This is a striking achievement. Surveying a vast canvas in consistently readable prose, Professor Robbins offers thought-provoking answers to a question that concerns us all: how has Britain seen itself in relation to 'Europe' in modern times? It is no mean feat of organisation to combine coverage of diplomacy and politics with passages on industrialisation and tourism, meanwhile keeping in focus subjects such as religion and pacifism that in other hands might not have been accorded the significance they deserve. It is a pleasure to find his text studded with examples of his own dry wit." --Simon Dixon, Professor of History, Leeds University