Why has much of the United Kingdom been so Eurosceptic? One common answer, from Eurosceptics and pro-Europeans alike, is that the UK has been and remains very different from what is called continental Europe. The differentiating feature, it is typically suggested, is the ‘empire’, supplemented in the more recent past by the ‘special relationship’ with the United States. This thesis has been reinforced by a historiography, particularly prominent in the USA, that has sought to put the empire back into British history.

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