What did it mean in the first half of the 20th century to say I am English ? This collection of extracts from writings of the era all raise this question. Drawn from a wide range of sources including letters, diaries, journalism, fiction, poems, parliamentary speeches and government reports, the volume is divided into five sections: the ideas and ideals of Englishness; versions of rural England; war and national identity; culture and Englishness; domestic and urban England.