Greater Britain

During the tumultuous closing decades of the nineteenth century, as the prospect of democracy loomed and as intensified global economic and strategic competition reshaped the political imagination, British thinkers grappled with the question of how best to organize the empire. Many found an answer to the anxieties of the age in the idea of Greater Britain, a union of the United Kingdom and its settler colonies in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and southern Africa. In The Idea of Greater Britain, Duncan Bell analyzes this fertile yet neglected debate, examining how a wide range of thinkers conceived of this vast "Anglo-Saxon" political community. Their proposals ranged from the fantastically ambitious--creating a globe-spanning nation-state--to the practical and mundane--reinforcing existing ties between the colonies and Britain. But all of these ideas were motivated by the disquiet generated by democracy, by challenges to British global supremacy, and by new possibilities for global cooperation and communication that anticipated today's globalization debates. Exploring attitudes toward the state, race, space, nationality, and empire, as well as highlighting the vital theoretical functions played by visions of Greece, Rome, and the United States, Bell illuminates important aspects of late-Victorian political thought and intellectual life.

The publication of the first edition of 'The Greater Britain' coincided with the formation of the British Union of Fascists by Oswald Mosley in 1932. It provided hope and inspiration for tens of thousands of British men and women seeking an end to the Great Depression - and an alternative to communism and capitalism. In this important book Mosley set out his plans for a new economic order - and a new system of government to implement it. This would involve Britain's withdrawal from the chaos of world markets into a self-sufficient trading area based on Great Britain and her Empire. It was argued that this alone could free the people from exploitation by International Finance which used cheap labour in Asia and the Far East to undercut British and Empire workers - resulting in the destruction of our major industries. The book also outlines an alternative to 'sham democracy' and its replacement by a British Corporate State. Under this proposal all working people would share the profits they helped to create and they would be empowered by voting along vocational rather than 19th. Century geographic lines. Other chapters deal with 'The State and the Citizen', a new concept of public service, and 'Fascism and its Neighbours', the new movement's attitude towards foreign relations and defence. Any understanding of what the Modern Movement really stood for in Great Britain is incomplete without having read 'The Greater Britain'.

Turning the conventional Break-Up of Britain narrative inside-out, this book scans the horizon of overseas projections of British identities that unravelled during the decades of global decolonisation

We're used to hearing that we live in an age of unprecedented division, that the great storms that have engulfed British politics over the past ten years have driven us further apart than ever, with no hope of finding common ground. Penny Mordaunt and Chris Lewis disagree. In this lively and insightful book, they argue that although differences of opinion are a natural part of healthy political debate, some of our current division is caused by a need for political reform. A wave of scandals has corroded public confidence in leadership in all walks of life, fuelled by a hyper-individualistic social media landscape – but by rebuilding public trust we can restore national pride and positive, competent politics. Greater lays out a plan for post-Brexit Britain. Delving into our history, our institutions and our culture, it explains how we arrived at this point and how the British character points the way towards practical national missions. It explores Britain's role in the world and how to balance global and local priorities; makes the case for the United Kingdom based on the mutuality that binds us; and calls for modernising reform in politics, government and markets. It describes the role of social media in culture wars and calls for a relentless focus on aspiration and a social enterprise revolution. Above all, it reminds us of the many reasons we have to be optimistic.

This 1912 work analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the British Empire by means of comparison with that of Rome.

Concern and debate over the role of religion in the make up of the United Kingdom is a contemporaneously relevant as it was in the nineteenth century. God and Greater Britain is a survey of the contribution of religion to society, politics, culture and national self-understanding in Britain and Ireland at a pivotal period in their historical development. It derives from primary research as well as from an extensive synthesis of the secondary literature. John Wolffe's timely and stimulating appraisal of the centrality of religion is well illustrated with specific episodes and uniquely places religion in a firm historical perspective.

Today, Oswald Mosley is remembered as one of Britain's most unpleasant and despised political figures. Yet at the opening of his career he was a rising star of British politics. Charismatic, talented and intelligent, it seemed that that Mosley was destined for greatness. If he had not abandoned mainstream politics for his journey towards fascism, he could have reached 10 Downing Street. So what if things had turned out differently? In 'A Greater Britain' Ed Thomas charts the alternative career of a successful Oswald Mosley, who scales the heights of power in inter-war Britain, becoming one of the 20th century's most influential - and divisive - figures in the process. As Mosley entrenches himself in power, befriends Benito Mussolini and reforms Britain along his own, corporatist lines, it quickly becomes apparent that world history will never be the same again. Reviews "Wonderful, concise, poetic." "I have to join the cheering crowd, bravo!" "So good I couldn't tell it was alternate history."