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The nature and extent of 'Britishness' is one of the burning contemporary cultural issues of the 1990s. The gradual creation of a single state embracing all the inhabitants of the British Isles, which culminated in the Act of Union of Great Britain and Ireland 1801, has not led in the long term to the consolidation of a permanent primary British identity. This volume examines some of the various forces over the century 1750 to 1850 that worked against the emergence of a permanent primary British identity and encouraged the survival or creation of more localised or regional/national allegiances and even cosmopolitan values. Ultimately, this collection of essays goes beyond the 'Britishness' problem. In its emphasis on the difficulties of building a primary national identity on multi-cultural foundations, it engages with an important issue of our times: the debate over the best way for a state to integrate its minorities.