The years 1650–1850 saw the creation of the United Kingdom and its emergence as a world power. According to much recent literature - especially Linda Colley’s Britons--Protestantism was central to this process, giving the British a sense of uniqueness, unity and imperial destiny. This collection of essays examines and challenges this religious contribution to ‘Britishness’ and suggests radical new ways to understand the ‘British problem’ and British and Irish development during the ‘long eighteenth century’.

List of contributors; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Part I. Introduction: 1. The trials of the chosen peoples: recent interpretations of Protestantism and national identity in Britain and Ireland Tony Claydon and Ian McBride; Part II. England: 2. 'I love my King and my Country, but a Roman Catholic I hate': anti-catholicism, xenophobia and national identity in eighteenth-century England Colin Haydon; 3. Confessional state or elect nation? Religion and identity in eighteenth-century England Jeremy Black; 4. 'To protect English liberties': the English nationalist revolution of 1688-1689 Steven Pincus; 5. A history of variations: the identity of the eighteenth-century church of England Brian Young; Part III. Britain and Ireland: 6. The British dimension, religion and the shaping of political identities during the reign of Charles II Tim Harris; 7. The bible and national identity in the British Isles, c.1650-c.1750 Scott Mandelbrote; 8. Protestantism, Presbyterianism and national identity in eighteenth-century Scottish history David Allan; 9. Protestantism, ethnicity and Irish identities, 1660-1760 Toby Barnard; 10. 'The common name of Irishman': Protestantism and patriotism in eighteenth-century Ireland Ian McBride; Part IV. Britain, Ireland and the World: 11. The island race: Captain Cook, Protestant evangelicalism and the construction of English national identity, 1760-1800 Kathleen Wilson; 12. A transatlantic perspective: Protestantism and national identities in mid-nineteenth-century Britain and the United States John Wolffe; Index.