Australia and the British Embrace: The Demise of the Imperial Ideal

Stuart Ward

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0522849997 ISBN 13: 9780522849998

Publisher: Melbourne University Press, 1998

Australia and the British Embrace Until a generation ago, "Britishness" lay at the heart of Australian political culture. How and why did this fundamental idea lose its meaning for Australians and their political institutions? Australia and the British Embrace is an engrossing account of the unraveling of Britishness in Australian political life. Full description

Review:

"Ward successfully challenges recent writing which has tended to antedate Australia's rejection of the ties of Empire and Britishness . . . Expertly applying material from the archives of both countries, Stuart Ward has written a fine book, as important to British readers as to Australians." --"Times Literary Supplement"

"A stunning and challenging contribution to the core question of Australian historiography." --"Australian Book Review"

Synopsis:

This title offers an interpretation on the demise of the traditional poltical, economic and sentimental ties between Australia and Great Britain. It argues that that the steady waining of "British race patriotism" in Australia did not occur because of assertive Australian cultural nationalism, as is often suggested. Rather it was a reaction to the UK's determination to carve out a new political and economic future as a member of the European Community.