INVENTION OF TRADITION, THE

Many of the traditions which we think of as very ancient in their origins were n
ot in fact sanctioned by long usage over the centuries, but were invented compar
atively recently. This book explores examples of this process of invention - the
creation of Welsh and Scottish 'national culture'; the elaboration of British r
oyal rituals in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; the origins of imperial
rituals in British India and Africa; and the attempts by radical movements to de
velop counter-traditions of their own. It addresses the complex interaction of p
ast and present, bringing together historians and anthropologists in a fascinati
ng study of ritual and symbolism which poses new questions for the understanding
of our history.