Book Review: Was Hinduism Invented? : Britons, Indians, and Colonial Construction of Religion

A review of Was Hinduism Invented? : Britons, Indians, and Colonial Construction of Religion by Brian K. Pennington

Learning from the Dead: How Burial Practices in Roman Britain Reflect Changes in Belief and Society

This paper begins by examining the burial traditions of the Iron age Britons and Classical Romans to see how these practices reflect their societal values and belief systems. The funerary methods of both the Britons and Romans are then analyzed following the Roman occupation of Britain in 43 AD to see how these practices changed once the two groups came into contact with each other. The findings show that rather than Romanization, there is a hybridization of burial practices which incorporated and reflect both Roman and British beliefs and values

Who Are the Givers? Briefing Paper on British Social Attitudes to Charitable Giving

This Institute for Philanthropy paper summarizes the findings of the annual British Social Attitudes Survey on the attitudes and values of Britons regarding charitable giving and philanthropy, and on their behavior. The authors differentiate the target group by age, education, religion, income, political affiliation, and newspaper readership, and determines that there are broadly three groups in British society: contributors, bystanders, and investors

Beefeaters, British History and the Empire in Asia and Australasia since 1826

The Yeoman Warders at the Tower of London (colloquially known as ‘Beefeaters’) have been represented as a quintessential part of British history. Their distinctive Tudor costumes and their highly visible role at the Tower made them iconic symbols of Britishness. One would think that the Beefeater could only be seen in London yet the iconography of the Beefeater was widespread across the British Empire, including India, Hong Kong, Malaya, Australia and New Zealand. This essay explores the transmission of a symbol of Britishness, arguing that while the Beefeater was a global icon, it resonated most with those who desired a direct connection to Anglo-British history. The reception and consumption of the Beefeater differed substantially. In Australia and New Zealand, the Beefeater allowed ‘distant Britons’ to celebrate a nostalgic history shared with the old country, while elsewhere in the Empire and Commonwealth, the Beefeater was too historically obscure to hold resonance and often symbolised the commercialism associated with marketing alcohol. This essay explores the changing representations and meaning of the Beefeaters as an icon of Britishness across the rise and fall of the British Empire

Contrary to popular assumption, most Britons living in the EU27 aren't retirees

There is a popular assumption that the majority of Britons living in the rest of the EU are pensioners, who have exercised their treaty rights to reside in another EU member state postretirement. In fact, 80% of the UK citizens who have made their homes and lives in the EU27 are below retirement age. Discussing her fieldwork with Britons living in Toulouse, Michaela Benson (Goldsmiths, University of London) examines the significance of European citizenship rights – particularly freedom of movement – for the career and life choices of these Britons and asks what the current agreements on citizens’ rights post-Brexit mean for them

Spenser and the Historical Revolution: Briton Moniments and the Problem of Roman Britain

Curran argues that, since Roman Britain is a key to understanding the historiographical debates of Edmund Spenser\u27s time, the Roman Britain section of Briton Moniments in The Faerie Queene needs to be examined. It is here that Spenser acknowledged the direction historiography was taking, and saw how this new trend altered the relation between history and glory

“Of the Ruin and Conquest of Britain”: The Anglo-Saxon Transformation of the British Isles

The history of Britain after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire has traditionally been perceived as one of invasion and domination at the hands of Germanic peoples most commonly known as the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. Though this is the narrative presented by medieval authors, current archaeology suggests that the settlement of Germanic peoples in Britain was peaceful and characterized by cohabitation and acculturation. Further examination and contextualization of the most nearly-contemporary sources reveal discrepancies of chronology and causation which indicate that medieval authors constructed their accounts based not upon an understanding of any Anglo-Saxon invasion but rather upon a narrative constructed from their contemporary cultural landscape

Money and mental wellbeing : a longitudinal study of medium-sized lottery wins

One of the famous questions in social science is whether money makes people happy. We offer new evidence by using longitudinal data on a random sample of Britons who receive medium-sized lottery wins of between £1000 and £120,000 (that is, up to approximately US$ 200,000). When compared to two control groups – one with no wins and the other with small wins – these individuals go on eventually to exhibit significantly better psychological health. Two years after a lottery win, the average measured improvement in mental wellbeing is 1.4 GHQ points

Wales, the Enlightenment and the New British History

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