The Enchanted Glass

Download or read book The Enchanted Glass written by Tom Nairn and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2011-11-07 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this acclaimed study of British statehood, identity and culture, Tom Nairn deftly dispels the conviction that the Royal Family is nothing more than an amusing relic of feudalism or a mere tourist attraction. Instead, he argues that the monarchy is both apex and essence of the British state, the symbol of a national backwardness. In this fully updated edition, Nairn’s powerful and bitterly comic prose lays bare Britain’s peculiar, pseudo-modern, national identity—which remains stubbornly fixated on the Crown and its constitutional framework, the “parliamentary sovereignty” of Westminster.