These Englands

The term "conversation" is one of today's jargon terms. This book explores in depth what conversation means in national terms. Its premise is that to be English is to participate in a conversation about the country's history, politics, culture, and society. The conversation changes, of course, but there is also continuity which illustrates a distinct tradition. It is a conversation, the book argues, which requires the plural notion of these Englands rather than the singularity of this England. Englishness, then, is the tone, register, and idiom of it subject matters, its anxieties and certainties, differences, and commonalities. The book explores the English conversation through historical, political, literary, and popular voices and tries to identify the character of contemporary Englishness.

Arthur Aughey is Professor of Politics at the University of Ulster, Jordanstown. Christine Berberich is Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Portsmouth.