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The politics of pain : postwar England and the rise of nationalism / Fintan O'Toole.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York ; London : Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W.W. Norton & Company, 2019Copyright date: ©2019Edition: First American editionDescription: xxiv, 232 pages ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781631496455
  • 163149645X
Uniform titles:
  • Heroic failure
Subject(s):
Contents:
Preface: The importance of not being earnest -- Introduction -- 1. The pleasures of self-pity -- 2. SS-GB : life in occupied England -- 3. The triumph of the light brigade -- 4. A pint of beer, a packet of prawn cocktail flavour crisps and two ounces of dog shit, please -- 5. Sadopopulism -- 6. The twilight of the gods : English dreamtime -- 7. The sore tooth and the broken umbrella -- 8. Postscript: A special place in Hell -- Notes.
Summary: "From one of the most perceptive observers of the English today comes a brilliantly insightful, mordantly funny account of their seemingly irrational embrace of nationalism. England's recent lurch to the right appears to be but one example of the nationalist wave sweeping across the world, yet as acclaimed Irish critic Fintan O'Toole suggests in The Politics of Pain, it is, in reality, a phenomenon rooted in World War II. We must look not to the vagaries of the European Union but, instead, far back to the end of the British empire, if we hope to understand our most fraternal ally-and the royal mess in which the British now find themselves. O'Toole depicts a roiling nation that almost ludicrously dreams of a German invasion, if only to get the blood going, and that erupts in faux outrage over regulations on "prawn-flavored crisps." A sympathetic yet unsparing observer, O'Toole asks: How did a great nation bring itself to the point of such willful self-harm? His answer represents one of the most profound portraits of the English since Sarah Lyall's New York Times bestseller The Anglo Files"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 341.2422 O88 Available 33111009564945
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

England's recent lurch to the right appears to be but one example of the nationalist wave sweeping across the world, yet as acclaimed Irish critic Fintan O'Toole suggests in The Politics of Pain, it is, in reality, a phenomenon rooted in World War II. We must look not to the vagaries of the European Union but, instead, far back to the end of the British empire, if we hope to understand our most fraternal ally--and the royal mess in which the British now find themselves. O'Toole depicts a roiling nation that almost ludicrously dreams of a German invasion, if only to get the blood going, and that erupts in faux outrage over regulations on "prawn-flavored crisps." A sympathetic yet unsparing observer, O'Toole asks: How did a great nation bring itself to the point of such willful self-harm? His answer represents one of the most profound portraits of the English since Sarah Lyall's New York Times bestseller The Anglo Files.

"Originally published the UK under the title Heroic failure : Brexit and the politics of pain."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 217-231).

Preface: The importance of not being earnest -- Introduction -- 1. The pleasures of self-pity -- 2. SS-GB : life in occupied England -- 3. The triumph of the light brigade -- 4. A pint of beer, a packet of prawn cocktail flavour crisps and two ounces of dog shit, please -- 5. Sadopopulism -- 6. The twilight of the gods : English dreamtime -- 7. The sore tooth and the broken umbrella -- 8. Postscript: A special place in Hell -- Notes.

"From one of the most perceptive observers of the English today comes a brilliantly insightful, mordantly funny account of their seemingly irrational embrace of nationalism. England's recent lurch to the right appears to be but one example of the nationalist wave sweeping across the world, yet as acclaimed Irish critic Fintan O'Toole suggests in The Politics of Pain, it is, in reality, a phenomenon rooted in World War II. We must look not to the vagaries of the European Union but, instead, far back to the end of the British empire, if we hope to understand our most fraternal ally-and the royal mess in which the British now find themselves. O'Toole depicts a roiling nation that almost ludicrously dreams of a German invasion, if only to get the blood going, and that erupts in faux outrage over regulations on "prawn-flavored crisps." A sympathetic yet unsparing observer, O'Toole asks: How did a great nation bring itself to the point of such willful self-harm? His answer represents one of the most profound portraits of the English since Sarah Lyall's New York Times bestseller The Anglo Files"-- Provided by publisher.

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