Old World, New World: The Story of Britain and America [Paperback]

At the outset of her study of the historical relationship between Great Britain and the United States, Kathleen Burk quotes the American novelist and expatriate to Britain Henry James: "I have not the least hesitation in saying that I aspire to write in such a way that it wd. be impossible to an outsider to say whether I am, at a given moment, an American writing about England or an Englishman writing about America ... & so far from being ashamed of such an ambiguity I should be exceedingly proud of it, for it would be highly civilized."

As did Henry James, Professor Burk has strong ties to both the United States and England. She is a fourth generation Californian with degrees from UCLA. Following her studies in the United States, Burk took a degree from Oxford. On a personal level, Burk tells the reader, she is married to an Englishman. Burk currently teaches at Oxford, but she has also taught extensively in her native land. Her book, "Old World, New World" shows that Professor Burk has succeeded in the difficult task of seeing the relationship between the United States and Great Britain with sympathy and understanding from both sides. Her ability to become part of each culture is the chief strength of this excellent history.

In her book, Burk tries to show that there is a "special relationship" between the United States and Britain which is largely different from the relationship between any other two nations. She traces the course of this relationship over four centuries, beginning with the first attempts at British colonization of America in the early 17th Century to the present day. With the lengthy time frame of her study, Burk shows how the relationship has evolved. Thus, the story begins with Britain beginning her rise to Empire and then losing what were the 13 colonies in the Revolutionary War. Britain continued her rise to world dominance in the Nineteenth Century over a rambunctious United States. With the 20th Century, the costs of two World Wars, the end of Britain's empire, and the conclusion of the Cold War,the positions of the United States and Britain were reversed. The United States became the world's dominant economic and military power, while a restive Britain reluctantly settled into the role of regional power. Burk shows how the United States and Britain shared many of the same traits during their times of world dominance. These traits include a genuine desire to do good and to act democratically. Both countries also shared a certain arrogance and blindness in concluding that they possessed some special insight into what was good and in too readily conflating "the good" with their own political and economic ambitions.

Burk also describes the "love-hate" character of the relationship between Great Britain and the United States. At the outset of the relationship, the colonists were proud to consider themselves British subjects. With the Revolution and American independence, the two countries were enemies for many years. Even though this was the case, many people on both sides of the Atlantic realized that the two peoples had much in common. There was a degree of forbearance in the relationship, particularly by Britain, during the Nineteenth Century. Burk finds a watershed in the relationship occured in 1871, when difficulties arising from the American Civil War between the countries and various longstanding boundary issues were settled. During the late 19th and early 20th Century, Britain showed deference to the growing United States on a number of issues which, in the absence of restraint, could have led to war. In the Twentieth Century, the United States and Britain combined as allies and friends in two world wars.

Professor Burk's study consists of eight chapters, five of which discuss the ongoing political relationships between Britain and the United States. In separate chapters, she explores the colonial period and the Revolutionary War. In a lengthy third chapter, she covers the relationship between Britain and the United States from 1783 -- 1872, a period which includes the War of 1812, American expansion, and the Civil War. She discusses the change of relationship and of the status of the two countries in a chapter covering 1872 to 1945. And she concludes with a discussion of the twisting course of the alliance since 1945.

In three chapters that function as lengthy interludes to the political history, Burk offers insight into how people on both sides of the Atlantic viewed the relationship through examining the many travel books that were written during the 19th Century. In an excellent chapter, "Some aspects of Everyday Life in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century" Burk shows how literary and social ideas crossed the Atlantic in both directions bringing the United States and Britain closer together. Finally, in a chapter titled "Anglo- American Marital Relations: 1870-1945 she shows how the relationship between the two countries was influenced by intermarriages. She tells the story of Jenny Churchill, the American mother of the Prime Minister, and of the many marriages between Americans and British subjects that resulted from WW II.

Burk's book offers a comprehensive overview of British American relationships, told in the voice of an insider to both cultures. I learned a great deal from the breadth and depth of her study.

Robin Friedman

This is one of my top reads this year - a tour de force of Anglo-American relations from the very beginnings of Jamestown Settlement and Plymouth Rock to the tense days of the Iraqi invasion in 2003 and after.

Although I give this book 5 stars - I do feel that more should have been written about the links between American and British business after World War II - Burk's focus is almost entirely on inter-governmental relationships. She also doesn't cover the growth of anti-Americanism in Britain.

Still - highly recommended!

Absolutely fascinating! If you ever wondered why the UK & US are linked, this contains all the answers. It's a story of love and hate. Nothing like the family that you love to hate, but you can't get rid of them because they are family.