Background
Nairn, Tom Cunningham was born on June 2, 1932 in Freuchie, Fife, Scotland. Son of David Robertson and Katherine Herd (Cunningham) Nairn.
(In this twenty-fifth annivery edition of The Break-Up of ...)
In this twenty-fifth annivery edition of The Break-Up of Britain, Tom Nairn reviews the arguments of his classic study and expands his thesis into the new millenium. He confirms his contention that civic nationalism-but not ethnonationalism-will play an increasing role in the breakdown of the United Kingdom. This, he says, has now assumed an even more rapid pace than when the book was first published. the cumulative strains of Thatcherism and Blairism have had their effect. "The Break-Up of Britain", he writes in the new Introduction "began its life in a still imposing, if narrowing river; by the time the 1981 paperback edition had appeared, the river had begun to feel the approaching rapids- which have accelerated for over twenty years, and attained a crazy place even in the few weeks between beginning and finishing this new edition. The thunder of a waterfall no one conceived of in 1977 is in everyone's ears, as Tony Blair sends off his ships and troops to assist America's assault on the Middle East... In the altered world lying beyond these falls, it is surely unlikely the United Kingdom will survive in anything like its historical form".
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1863355081/?tag=2022091-20
(In this acclaimed study of British statehood, identity an...)
In this acclaimed study of British statehood, identity and culture, Tom Nairn deftly dispels the conviction that the Royal Family is nothing more than an amusing relic of feudalism or a mere tourist attraction. Instead, he argues that the monarchy is both apex and essence of the British state, the symbol of a national backwardness. In this fully updated edition, Nairn’s powerful and bitterly comic prose lays bare Britain’s peculiar, pseudo-modern, national identity—which remains stubbornly fixated on the Crown and its constitutional framework, the “parliamentary sovereignty” of Westminster.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1844677753/?tag=2022091-20
Nairn, Tom Cunningham was born on June 2, 1932 in Freuchie, Fife, Scotland. Son of David Robertson and Katherine Herd (Cunningham) Nairn.
Master of Arts, University Edinburgh, Scotland, 1956.
Lecturer in philosophy University Birmingham, England, 1962-1964. Lecturer in liberal studies Hornsey College of Art, London, 1964-1969. Research fellow Transnational Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1972-1975.
Director Scottish International Institute, Edinburgh, 1976-1980. Freelance television writer, consultant Livingston, Scotland, since 1989.
(In this acclaimed study of British statehood, identity an...)
(In this twenty-fifth annivery edition of The Break-Up of ...)
(By the author of "The Break-Up of Britain?" and "The Left...)
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