Resisting Napoleon: The British Response to the Threat of Invasion, 1797--1815

Abstract

This volume is a collection of conference papers reflecting on the invasion scares of 1797–8 and 1803–5. All of these address the two great debates which these events generated: to what extent was the widespread loyalism of these years deep-rooted; and did the experience of a common threat lead to a more pronounced sense of Britishness? Collectively, these essays offer nuanced contributions to these debates, as befits an academic discussion, but the reader is left with the clear impression that nearly all the authors would dearly like to chip away chunks of both loyalism and Britishness. With regard to the first question, there are essays which described the efforts of government to manufacture loyalism, ‘until defence becomes the talk of every ale-house’. These policies included the demonising of Bonaparte himself (Simon Burrows), the worship of heroes in statuary (Holger Hoock), and the patriotic uses and abuses of music (Roz Southey,...

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