Does not seek to judge the wisdom of Britain leaving the EU, but exposes nostalgia's great danger: the oversimplification of reality. Nostalgia has become a major force in global politics. While Donald Trump promises to "make America great again", Xi Jinping calls for a "great rejuvenation ofthe Chinese people", and a majority of Russians still mourn the Soviet Union. Now, hardline Brexiteers are yearning for a revival of the British Empire. Despite its romantic flavor, nostalgia is a malaise - a combination of paranoia and melancholy that idealizes the past, while denigrating the present. This epidemic of mythicizing national history is shaping politics in risky ways, fueled by ageing populations, shifts in the global order, andtechnological disruption. Nowhere has more starkly epitomized this new age of nostalgic nationalism than Britain, where Brexiteers trapped in an idealized past are reviving calls for a political Anglosphere, founded on dreams of their buccaneering heritage and inherent connection with their true"kith and kin". Drawing on psychology, political science, history and popular culture, Anglo Nostalgia analyses the rapid spread of this global phenomenon, before focusing on Brexit as a case study. Without seeking to judge the wisdom of Britain leaving the EU, Campanella and Dassu expose nostalgia's great danger:the oversimplification of reality, leading to unprecedented political miscalculations and rising geopolitical tensions.

Nostalgia has become a major force in global politics. While Donald Trump hopes to "make America great again," Xi Jinping calls for a "great rejuvenation of the Chinese people," and a majority of Russians still mourn the Soviet Union. But it is Brexit, with its idealization of a bygone era of full sovereignty, that epitomizes nostalgic nationalism in its purest form. Despite its romantic flavor, nostalgia is a malaise--a combination of paranoia and melancholy that idealizes the past, while denigrating the present. This epidemic of mythicizing national history is shaping politics in risky ways, fueled by ageing populations, shifts in the global order, and technological disruption. When deployed in the political debate, collective nostalgia is used as an emotional weapon, capable of mobilizing a nation towards illusory goals. Drawing on psychology, political science, history and popular culture, Anglo Nostalgia analyses the rapid spread of this global phenomenon, before focusing on Brexit as a case study. With the detachment of informed outsiders, Campanella and Dassù expose nostalgia's great danger: the oversimplification of reality, leading to unprecedented political miscalculations and rising geopolitical tensions.

Since the end of the Cold War so-called experts have been predicting the eclipse of America's "special relationship" with Britain. But as events have shown, especially in the wake of 9/11, the political and cultural ties between America and Britain have grown stronger. Blood, Class and Empire examines the dynamics of this relationship, its many cultural manifestations -- the James Bond series, PBS "brit Kitsch," Rudyard Kipling -- and explains why it still persists. Contrarian, essayist and polemicist Christopher Hitchens notes that while the relationship is usually presented as a matter of tradition, manners, and common culture, sanctified by wartime alliance, the special ingredient is empire; transmitted from an ancien regime that has tried to preserve and renew itself thereby. England has attempted to play Greece to the American Rome, but ironically having encouraged the United States to become an equal partner in the business of empire, Britain found itself supplanted.

The story of how the country house, historically a site of violent disruption, came to symbolize English stability during the eighteenth century. Country houses are quintessentially English, not only architecturally but also in that they embody national values of continuity and insularity. The English country house, however, has more often been the site of violent disruption than continuous peace. So how is it that the country how came to represent an uncomplicated, nostalgic vision of English history? This book explores the evolution of the country house, beginning with the Reformation and Civil War, and shows how the political events of the eighteenth century, which culminated in the reaction against the French Revolution, led to country houses being recast as symbols of England’s political stability.

This volume is the first authoritative historical textbook to look at the origins, development and evolution of seaside pierrot troupes and concert parties and their popular performance heritage. It will provide, for the first time, a definition of the pierrot troupe and its evolution from the roots of European popular traditions such as the commedia dell’arte and minstrelsy, to links between music hall and contemporary popular culture. Tony Lidington will explore how pierrot troupes grew from a single idea into a major international cultural industry and how it boosted morale and national identity during the two World Wars, before sublimating into contemporary pop music and comedy. Tony’s continuing practice as research provides an experiential framework for the historical and ethnographic analysis of the form. This book will be of vital interest to students, researchers, and performers of outdoor (al fresco) arts, clowning and comedy, minstrelsy, vernacular music-making and music hall.

Heroic poetry was central to the construction of Anglo-Saxon values, beliefs, and community identity and its subject matter is often analyzed as a window into Anglo-Saxon life. However, these poems are works of art as well as vehicles for ideology. Aesthetics of Nostalgia reads Anglo-Saxon historical verse in terms of how its aesthetic form interacted with the culture and politics of the period. Examining the distinctive poetic techniques found in vernacular historic poetry, Renée R. Trilling argues that the literary construction of heroic poetry promoted specific kinds of historical understanding in early medieval England, distinct from linear and teleological perceptions of the past. The Aesthetics of Nostalgia surveys Anglo-Saxon literary culture from the age of Bede to the decades following the Norman Conquest in order to explore its cultural impact through both its content and its form.

Intermediate Examination Paper from the year 2003 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Miscellaneous, grade: 2,3 (B), University of Göttingen, language: English, abstract: Winston Churchill coined the term Special Relationship in his famous speech in Fulton, Missouri in 1946. This term characterises the unparalleled close Anglo-American relations during the Second World War and in the time thereafter. The shared perception that Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union constituted major external threats to their well-being bound the societies and leaderships of Great Britain and the United States together. The looming menace ceased to exist after the break-up of the Soviet Union and the demise of Communism, and for several authors so did the raison d ́être of the Special Relationship as well. It was more however that brought these two countries together than the shared perception of a communist threat. Why is it that "neither country has fully adjusted its mind to thinking of the members of the other society as foreigners", and that Americans still refer to Britain as the "mother country" every now and then? Why do certain authors call Britain the "fortified outpost of the Anglo-Saxon race" or the "unsinkable aircraft carrier"? And is it just by chance that fictional author George Orwell calls Britain "Airstrip One" and associates it with North America in his novel "1984"? Is it a coincidence or are these - admittedly vague - expressions signs of subtle yet overarching bonds between the two countries? This work will analyse and discuss various aspects of Anglo-American relations. The apparent cooperation in the fields of foreign and security policy will be assessed, as well as the more disguised realm of military and intelligence collaboration. Following is a chapter about two aspects that dominate our time, economy and business in the Anglo-American relationship. The last chapter attempts to illuminate the obscure field of "private" relations between th