This study focuses on the creation of both British ethnic or ‘national’ identity and Brittonic regional/dynastic identities in the Roman and early medieval periods. It is divided into two interrelated sections which deal with a broad range of textual and archaeological evidence. Its starting point is an examination of Roman views of the inhabitants of the island of Britain and how ethnographic images were created in order to define the population of Britain as 2 barbarians who required the civilising influence of imperial conquest. The discussion here seeks to elucidate, as far as possible, the extent to which the Britons were incorporated into the provincial framework and subsequently ordered and defined themselves as an imperial people. This first section culminates with discussion of Gildas’s De Excidio Britanniae. It seeks to illuminate how Gildas attempted to create a new identity for his contemporaries which, though to a certain extent based on the foundations of Roman-period Britishness, situated his gens uniquely amongst the peoples of late antique Europe as God’s familia. The second section of the thesis examines the creation of regional and dynastic identities and the emergence of kingship amongst the Britons in the late and immediately post-Roman periods. It is largely concerned to show how interaction with the Roman state played a key role in the creation of early kingships in northern and western Britain. The argument stresses that while there were claims of continuity in group identities in the late antique period, the socio-political units which emerged in the fifth and sixth centuries were new entities. Indeed, it will emphasise that there was no return or re-emergence of a primitive form of kingship influenced by deep-seated notions of Celtic-ness. Rather, this study demonstrates that regional Brittonic groups participated in the broader cultural and socio-political transformations that mark out the late antique period across the western provinces of the failing Roman empire.

The history of peoples has always evoked a great deal of both academic and popular interest, and the peoples of Britain, with its island position and semi-mythic serial invasions, have evoked as much as any. As most of the period during which Britain has been inhabited by modern humans lies in prehistory, archaeology has long been the best method for elucidating the past. In recent years, however, genetics has come to complement the reconstruction of peoples' pasts, with its ability to trace lineal human biology instead of transferable human culture. The purpose of this thesis is to assess population genetics systems of Britain against the backdrop of archaeologically determined history, informed for later periods by linguistics, and attempt to ascertain any marked congruities or incongruities between this history and modern genetic data. The genetic datasets included in this work are the People of the British Isles Project collection, and some ancillary cohorts from surrounding countries. The genetic systems assessed include mitochondrial DNA, classical marker genes, lactase, pigmentation genes and some phenotypes, and finally a suite of candidate genes for determining normal facial variation. In a self-contained section, the principle of relating population genetic data to population histories is illustrated by a study focusing on Central Asia (a larger area), but using fewer genetic markers. The chosen markers systems overall reveal modest amounts of genetic differentiation among different groups in Britain, but consistently highlight Wales and Orkney especially as relatively distanced from the rest of Britain. This is in keeping with the historically quite isolated state of the former, and the comparatively recent heavy influx of Norse Vikings in the latter. Further details are observable from subsets of this study: all are discussed in the context of archaeological and linguistic evidence. These findings provide support and foundation for a forthcoming study from the People of the British Isles Project, using a genome-wide SNP approach rather than selected markers, which will likely increase the nuance of this initial picture and contribute further to answering specific questions regarding Britain's past.

No description available.

This study is a sociological analysis of Romani nationalism in Britain. It explores the extent to which Britain’s Romanies support, and identify with, the notion of a “Roma Nation”. It is guided by questions regarding how Britain’s Romanies negotiate otherness, home and belonging within the context of increasing Roma migration to Britain. It looks for instances of “groupness” or “collective identity” between previously disconnected Romani populations who have been brought together by migration. Fifty-two Romanies participated in this research. They belong to three waves of Romani diaspora: Romany Gypsies who arrived in Britain in the 15th century; Roma who arrived as refuges in the 1990s; and EU Roma migrants arriving post-2004. The primary aim of this study is to explore their experience of otherness, home and belonging and how their identifications with the Roma Nation are conditioned by their positions and experiences. The participants’ relationships to Britain are associated with both strong desires to belong and/or be recognised, and a bleak reality of exclusion and otherness. In their narratives there is no given homeland to which they all relate and with which they all identify. Roma maintain strong identifications with their countries of birth and Romany Gypsies assert a strong sense of British identity. The study shows that both Roma and Romany Gypsies have little interest in and limited knowledge of, an Indian homeland. The study also highlights the internal boundaries and contradictions that divide Britain’s Romani population. The analysis shows that they remain largely divided by country of origin, national identity, religion and lifestyle. The study concludes by considering the implications of these findings on the prospect of Romani nationalism in Britain.

This thesis surveys the evidence for Romano-British houses, with an emphasis on the imported and urban traditions that witness the influence of empire on province. The sample is therefore biased towards high status sites with complex spatial arrangements (i.e. town houses and villas). Chapter 1 explains the value of architecture in the study of social arrangements. Chapter 2 sets the Romano-British evidence in context by summarising research on the origins of the Roman house. Although the northwest provinces generated a distinct vernacular tradition this was inspired by architecural concepts developed in the eastern Mediterranean. Chapter 3 describes construction techniques, and charts a progression from timber and earth-walled buildings to masonry and concrete constructions. Details of building elevation and interior decoration are also considered. Chapter 4 describes the different types of room encountered. Houses were commonly set out over two principal wings, with the main reception rooms found in the rear wing. A portico leading from a front entrance and affording views over gardens and yards usually linked these areas. Building typologies are also described, offering a refinement of previous classificatory systems. The work concludes with a summary of chronological developments and changing social arrangements (Chapter 6). Britain boasted a distinctive range of local architectural styles that were the product of evolving fashion on the period AD 75-150. It is argued, however, that British society was no more or less 'Roman' than provincial society elsewhere in the empire. From the second century onwards there was a progressive move of social activities from the public sphere to the private one, as houses became increasingly important as a forum for the display of social relationships and as places for the representation and reproduction of wealth.

Very few have attempted to discuss interwar British colonial officials' intellectual interactions with the metropole in the early twentieth century. And yet such interactions are key if we are to really understand the way administrators understood race, imperial power and development. Where the ideas of colonial officials in interwar Africa have been examined, academics tend to coalesce around one of two arguments. Some believe that the British were cautious and conservative, which is said to account for the rise of the doctrine of 'indirect rule' and an aversion to the introduction of educational provision to thecontinent. Others, predominantly postcolonialists writing in the last twenty years or so, have argued that the British in Africa were ambiguous as to what their role was, because, they were attached to both ideas of the 'civilizing mission' and the 'noble savage.' In contrast to the first line of thinking, the British were in fact consistently interventionist, due to a moral universalism, a belief in the 'good' of the British, and an excited advocacy of the act of change. In contrast to the second line of thinking, the British genuinely felt that they were effecting coherent programmes of political, economic and social infrastructural development. The enthusiasm for change and a perception of Africa as robust and adaptable more than countered any sense of loss at the passing of a pre-colonial Africa that was usually depicted in negtive terms, especially when it was felt that what was good about 'traditional' African society could be preserved by indirect rule. The source of British confidence lay to a significant extent in the constant engagement of colonial officials with metropolitan ideas. Elite administrators, anthropologists and other commentators of the day all sanctioned the act of change. British conceptions of racial categories and imperial strength conjoined in such a way that officials felt that they were effecting coherent plans which blended both 'reform' and 'stasis' because both race and empire were felt considerably more robust than retrospective depictions of early-twentiethcentury fears over the validity of the 'civilizing mission' have deemed.

No description available.

This study is about the comparison of Turkish and English history textbooks in terms of the issues of design, construction and usability. In order to address design and construction issues, a number of components of Turkish and English history textbooks were examined and compared. This incorporates the qualitative and quantitative comparisons made on the legibility and page layout, illustrations, readability, content and organisation of text, presentation of value judgements and controversial issues in the Turkish and English history textbooks. In addition, bureaucratic process and approval of a textbook in Turkey and England were also investigated. In order to find out the viewpoints of Turkish and English history teachers on the textbooks that they use, questionnaire and interview techniques were used. As a result, a total of 135 questionnaires and 14 interviews with the Turkish and English history teachers have been used for this research. In addition, two Turkish and two English textbook writers were interviewed to understand the processes and difficulties that they had in writing. Furthermore, in order to understand the importance and role of history textbooks in Turkish and English educational settings, a total of 108 lessons were observed in these countries. The findings of the research reveal that Turkey and England have very different history teaching policies in terms of the way historical knowledge, illustrations, controversial issues and value judgements, content and organisation of the text and page layout of the textbooks are presented. These countries have very different textbook approval systems as well. The findings of the empirical study also indicate the existence of very different viewpoints of Turkish and English history teachers and textbook writers about the quality of the textbooks. The roles that textbooks play in teaching processes in Turkish and English classrooms are considerably different from each other. Thus, this study can be taken as the story of the Turkish and English teaching experiences which appear to contrast with each other.

This study is intended as a detailed exploration of British diplomacy with the United States in the first five years of the twentieth century, that is, the period during which the Marquis of Lansdowne presided at the Foreign Office. Without doubt, this was a critical time in the readjustment (both in substance and style) of Anglo-American diplomatic relations, initiating the amicable 'special relationship' which, broadly speaking, has endured to the present day. The efforts made by Lansdowne and the Unionist Administration to 'clear the slate' of nagging Anglo-American disputes, and to encourage a closer diplomatic bond, helped to bring to an end decades of mutual suspicion and antagonism, whilst representing a significant change of course for British foreign policy. In this light, the study here presented aims to provide a close analysis of the Unionist Government's American diplomacy, their motives and diplomatic ambitions, in the appropriate imperial and strategic contexts. An examination of this topic prompts the conclusion that, although Lansdowne fully appreciated the importance of Anglo-American friendship, he approached each dispute with a separate agenda, always gauging the strength of American feeling before committing himself to a set policy. Lansdowne was perfectly prepared to concede non-vital interests to the United States in the Western Hemisphere when serious tension arose, and this was particularly evident during the Isthmian canal and Alaskan boundary negotiations. With these two issues successfully concluded, the rapprochement was effectively ensured. Thus, Lansdowne's determination to uphold British interests (and those of her Western Hemispheric colonies), while occasionally placing a strain on Anglo-American relations, threatened no lasting danger. Above all, Britain relied upon vocal protestations of friendship, both for the United States and the Monroe Doctrine, to extinguish the risks of serious diplomatic tension and to cement a permanent friendship. The major successes of Anglo-American relations, however, came to an abrupt end after the Alaskan verdict of late 1903, and a barren period followed. The relationship had been set upon an entirely new course, but hopes for an Anglo- American partnership, sadly, remained hazy, naive, and frequently ill-conceived. In the Far East, where British and American interests broadly coincided, no joint policy emerged; instead, the two nations became separated over their responses to the Russo-Japanese conflict. Equally, the outstanding issues in North America proved incapable of settlement. Although these final stages of Lansdowne's American diplomacy were marred by diplomatic inactivity and occasional friction, the Unionists' contribution to the Anglo-American 'special relationship' left an impressive and lasting legacy. By 1905, Britain and the United States, while not formally allied, had at least become mutually sympathetic. This was an essential factor in the readjustment of British global strategy, allowing Britain to abandon her defences in the Western Hemisphere and despatch her forces to more pressing areas of the globe.

No description available.