American Idea of England, 1776-1840

Jennifer Clark is Academic Director for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and a member of the School of Humanities at the University of New England, Australia, where she teaches American and Australian History. She is the author of Aborigines and Activism: Race, Aborigines and the Coming of the Sixties to Australia (2008).

’In her very readable and broad treatment of American views of England before 1840, Jennifer Clark gives emphasis to the range and diversity of responses which were neither static nor uniform. With an impressive command of transatlantic politics and literature, she makes a compelling case and valuable contribution to an important but curiously understudied topic.’ Andrew O'Shaughnessy, Saunders Director of the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello and Professor of History at the University of Virginia, USA ’... an ideal reference and teaching aid ... clear and beautifully composed ... providing readers with a flowing and engaging read of an important and under-researched topic.’ Journal of Historical Geography 'Within this relatively narrow time frame, Clark is able to discuss a broad range of texts, from ephemeral song lyrics to works by James Fenimore Cooper and Washington Irving. Clark excels at identifying the complicated context in which these works were created ... Clark succeeds in the details. Readers looking for insight into familiar and unfamiliar literary works will particularly enjoy this book.' Journal of American History

• Contents: Introduction; ’The Britainism of our great men!’: Anglophilia, political writing and the political context of American writing; The history of John Bull: allegorical writing, 1774-1835; The War of 1812: the idea of England and American nationalism; The paper war: Anglo-American recrimination and retaliation; Far hills look green: travel writing; ’[F]air, but different’: England and the English in the American literary imagination, Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.