The English Nation: The Great Myth

This work challenges the very idea of England and what it means to be English. Dr. Jones has examined the origins of the sense of English identity that persists today and this book reveals a new perspective on how it came about. Many leaders have recognized the importance of history in the construction of a national identity. Dr. Jones reveals that during the reign of Henry VIII a false view of the English past was created in order to promote England as a sovereign and independent nation state. This view of England's past became one of the most powerful influences at work on English outlook and behavior. While the techniques associated with this process of mass deception have become more familiar, the legacy of their effects is sometimes less clear. Dr. Jones identifies this legacy and argues that a deliberately-conceived misunderstanding of their past made the English forget that they were Europeans and created a narrowly xenophobic outlook.