Untied Kingdom: A Global History of the End of Britain

How did Britain cease to be global? In Untied Kingdom, Stuart Ward tells the panoramic history of the end of Britain, tracing the ways in which Britishness has been imagined, experienced, disputed and ultimately discarded across the globe since the end of the Second World War. From Indian independence, West Indian immigration and African decolonization to the Suez Crisis and the Falklands War, he uncovers the demise of Britishness as a global civic idea and its impact on communities across the globe. He also shows the consequences of this diminished 'global reach' in Britain itself, from the Troubles in Northern Ireland to resurgent Englishness and the startling success of separatist political agendas in Scotland and Wales. Untied Kingdom puts the contemporary travails of the Union for the first time in their full global perspective as part of the much larger story of the progressive rollback of Britain's imaginative frontiers.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures; Introduction; Part I. Prologue: 1. Offshore Formations: The Unbearable Bandwidth of Being British; 2. The Limits of Location: Greater Britain; 3. 'British with a Small 'b'': The Impress of Internationalism; Part II. Registers: 4. 'We Mustn't Mention the Empire': The British Name; 5. Homes Away from Home: The Houses of Windsor; 6. Imperial Welcome: The British Subject; 7. The Wind Changes: Human Rights after Smuts; 8. Pride in the Goods: The Moral Economy of the Common Market; 9. Uncommon Law: The Reach of British Justice; Part III. Repercussions: 10. East and West of Suez: Receding Frontiers; 11. Backing Little Britain: Distempers; 12. The Last Refuge: Coming Home to England; 13. 'British We are and British We Stay': Troubles; 14. Stop the World: Celtic Departures; 15. 'Cosmologies of Our Own': After Britain; Conclusion; Acknowledgements; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Review :
'This new history of the transformation of Britain's place in the world casts the Union's contemporary crisis in a whole new light by uncovering the long-term demise of British allegiances around the world, and forging connections between the end of empire and the break-up of Britain.' The Bookseller 'Ward's majestic book is a rare treasure-trove of rich and fascinating material.' Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman 'the oddity of being British is wonderfully illustrated in 500 pages of anecdote and argument in this fascinating book.' Andrew Gimson, Conservative Home 'This remarkable book … gives a very fine account of the decline and fall of the British empire.' Will Podmore, Morning Star 'superbly stimulating' Martin Kettle, The Guardian 'This is the work of a master historian.' Jim Davidson, The Weekend Australian 'More than most of the other prophets and pronouncers of the 'death of Britain', Ward takes us beyond the narrow confines of the 'British Isles' … on an invigorating worldwide journey into 'global Britishness'. If one is looking for an account of the fate of Greater Britain - the end result of centuries of empire and worldwide British settlement - it would be hard to find one that betters this.' Krishan Kumar, Times Literary Supplement 'In Untied Kingdom, Stuart Ward, a professor of History at Copenhagen, and of Australian extraction, retells the story of the decolonisation of the British empire against the to-be-determined question of whether the UK itself will unwind. His is a well-told narrative of related endings.' Irish Times 'This book investigates a piece of unspoken conventional wisdom: since the loss of the empire, the British people have become unsure what their country represents, an uncertainty that may well trigger the dissolution of the United Kingdom itself.' Andrew Moravcsik, Foreign Affairs '… factual, very well-researched and exceedingly lucid and trustworthy.' David Marx, David Marx:Book Reviews 'Untied Kingdom which tracks the unravelling of Britishness in the second half of the twentieth century, is unmatched for its intellectual verve, geographical span, and the quality of its historical analysis.' Australian Book Review - Books of the Year 2023 '… immensely erudite and engaging … This is a huge work of scholarship that brings the scattered existing literature on de-dominionization and weakening Britishness within the old Commonwealth fully into dialogue with that on postwar decolonization and Britain. … In this formidably impressive book Ward sets an agenda that will surely shape work on twentieth-century Britain, empire, and its aftermath for years to come.' Sarah Stockwell, Journal of British Studies '[A] work of remarkable ambition and scope.' Sam Wetherell, The Journal of Modern History