One of Brexit's leading intellectual advocates examines the referendum vote in the context of history
Robert Tombs is Emeritus Professor of French History at Cambridge, and a Fellow of St John's College. Most of his writing and teaching has been on French and European history and on Franco-British relations, for which he was awarded the Palmes Academiques by the French government. Since his foray into English history, with the publication of The English and Their History in 2014, he has become a frequent commentator on contemporary issues, and is co-editor of the pro-Brexit academic website Briefings for Britain.
confident ... surprising and original ... and humble ... Tombs's
opening chapter, putting Britain's relationship with Europe into a
wider historical context, offers more insights than entire shelves
of rival Brexit books. "Geography comes before history," he begins.
"Islands cannot have the same history as continental plains. The
United Kingdom is a European country, but not the same kind of
European country as Germany, Poland or Hungary." ... Like all good
historians, Tombs can be entertainingly bitchy [yet] all the time,
with elegant wit, he punctures myth after myth
*Sunday Times*
To Remainers interested in reading a civilised & learned defence of
Brexit, I highly recommend it
*Tom Holland*
The time has finally come for the whole issue [of Brexit] to pass
from the hands of journalists into those of historians. Robert
Tombs, emeritus professor of French history at Cambridge, has
started the process of objective historical analysis with a
profoundly thoughtful explanation of how Brexit happened, and why
... Tombs has a witty turn of phrase and agreeably ironic style
that means that he never descends into polemic ... If journalism is
the first draft of history, then This Sovereign Isle is its
penultimate draft, and the best we will have for many years.
*Daily Telegraph*
[a] crisp account of the divorce ... remarkable as a chronicle of
national disillusionment... the work of a Leaver, but not a Little
Englander.. [Tombs] has made a strong and rational case for the
Leave vote and may actually persuade some readers that Brexit was
not an act of conspiratorial folly
*The Times*
admirably independent-minded and well argued ... should indeed be
made compulsory reading for all Brexiteers
*New Statesman*
Tombs is a historian of rare elegance and puckish wit [and] This
Sovereign Isle is a light and spritzig essay
*Financial Times*
Cambridge professor Tombs offers a fine first draft of history in
this objective explanation of how and why Brexit happened. Tombs
takes a witty, engagingly ironic approach to the false claims of
Project Fear.
*The Telegraph*
A short, punchy, eloquent statement from such a distinguished
historian
*The Guardian*
A rare intellectual proponent of Brexit, Robert Tombs infuriates
pro-Europeans-even more so because of his undeniable calibre as a
historian ... This Sovereign Isle argued that the Leave vote was
inevitable as well as rational: the UK never fitted the European
project. He understands this as a reaction to the traumas of the
continent's story - traumas that Britain's distinctive journey has
sometimes ducked ... His theme - national identity in a fracturing
world - has contemporary significance far beyond these shores.
*Prospect*
Really interesting, regardless of what side you voted on. Even if
you voted remain it's well worth reading
*BBC Radio 5*
bracing stuff, and very convincing
*Spectator*
intelligent and insightful. Readers are sure to find This Sovereign
Isle a page-turner
*Entertainment Focus*
a heroic book... a cracking read
*TalkRADIO*
Tombs' account of the context is valuable to us economists for at
least two reasons. First, he reminds us that the debate was not
only - or even primarily - about economics, despite his own initial
nervousness on that score. Second, he does not subscribe to the
UK's miserabilist, declinist, establishment outlook ... It is a
refreshing stance. I voted to remain
*Society of Professional Economists*
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