Summary
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the characteristics of the English identity. “An Englishman’s word is his bond”, “An Englishman’s home is his castle”. “England is a nation of shopkeepers”, but also “the most exclusive club there is”. To Cecil Rhodes to be an Englishman was to have “won first prize in the lottery of life” but to Jonathan Swift the English were “the most pernicious race of odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth”. Organised, effete, cruel, brave, inventive, determined …Who are the English? And when, how and in what heat was their English identity forged? Britain has now the highest percentage of inter-racial marriages in the world. Does that say as much about the English as their previously branded characteristics of gravity, sense of order, domesticity and propriety? What was Englishness and is it possible now to define it in anything more than the loosest and baggiest terms?With Paul Langford, Professor of Modern History, University of Oxford; Peter Mandler, Professor of Modern History at London Guildhall University; Professor Lola Young Director of the National Museum and Archives of Black History and Culture.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.0 | Thanks for downloading the In Our Time Podcast. |
| 0:39.0 | For more details about In Our Time and for our terms of use, please go to BBC.co. UK forward slash radio for I hope you |
| 0:46.4 | enjoy the program. |
| 0:47.4 | Hello an Englishman's word is his bond they say an Englishman's home is his castle |
| 0:53.2 | England is a nation of shopkeepers but also the most exclusive club there is to |
| 0:58.0 | sassle roads to be an Englishman was to have won the first prize in the lottery of |
| 1:02.4 | life but to Jonathan won the first prize in the lottery of life, but to Jonathan Swift, the English |
| 1:05.1 | were the most pernicious race of odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the |
| 1:09.9 | surface of the earth. |
| 1:12.2 | Organised defeat, cruel, inventive, brave, determined who are the English |
| 1:17.0 | and when, how and in what heat was their English identity forged. As we approached the First and George's Day of the New Century, I'm joined by Professor Paul Langford, author of |
| 1:27.3 | Englishness-identified manners and character from 1650 to 1850. |
| 1:31.9 | By Peter Mandler, Professor of Modern History at London Guildhall University, |
| 1:35.7 | and by Professor Lola Young, Director of the National Museum and Archives of Black History |
| 1:39.9 | and Culture. |
| 1:41.4 | Paul Langford, the starting point for your book is 1650. This is in England |
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