Description
Book SynopsisAnalyzing the history and memory of migrant journeys, covering not only the response of politicians and the public but also literary and artistic representations, then and now, Kushner’s volume sheds new light on the nature and construction of Britishness from the early modern era onwards.
Trade Reviewalive with the spirit of adventure that informs migration
In The Battle of Britishness he [Kushner] shows his mastery of the field through interweaving constant connections between past and present journeys. [...] Building on Kushner's earlier analyses of the public histories and collective memory of immigration to Britain, the book is a tour de force in its balance of breadth and nuance.
'Kushner underscores that remembering is above all a political process of selection and exclusion, and that national memories as well as migrant recasting of narratives are part and parcel of this process. Beyond the author's obvious craftsmanship and empathy for his subjects, what emerges from this is the complexity of the struggle for meaning.'
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Table of ContentsSection 1: Introduction and contexts
Introduction
1. Britishness, entry and exclusion
2. Constructing migrant journeys
Section 2: Early journeys, 1685 to 1880
3. Huguenot journeys: Constructing the refugees
4. Volga Germans in the late nineteenth century: from refugees to foreign paupers
Section 3: The Nazi era
5. Constructing (another) ideal refugee journey: the Kinder
6. The St Louis and after: Refugee journeys without end?
Section 4: Colonial and postcolonial journeys
7. The Empire Windrush: The making of an iconic British journey
8. Stowaways and others: racism and alternative journeys into Britishness
Section 5: Conclusions
9. Britishness and the nature of migrant journeys
Bibliography
Index
