English Ethnicity and Culture in North America

"This is an important and highly original contribution to a body of scholarly writing broadly lumped under the rubric of 'diaspora studies.' Its discussion of what David Gleeson and his colleagues label, justifiably, the 'hidden' diaspora - namely the English who have settled outside of the UK - is both fascinating and long-overdue."—David G. Haglund, Queen's University

"This collection of essays, an important contribution to American ethnic history, rescues the English from invisibility. Although often conflated with Britishness, Englishness in North America was constructed as a distinct, if hybrid, ethnic identity, mediated through a variety of characteristic migrant cultural practices examined here with due historical rigour."—John Belchem, emeritus professor of history, University of Liverpool

"Long considered 'invisible immigrants' who assimilated simply and easily into North American society, the English emerge from this fine collection of chapters as an altogether more complex ethnic group with a dynamic cultural identity that responded vigorously to the new and diverse conditions encountered in Canada and the United States. This is a major contribution to our understanding of emigration and culture in the Anglophone world."—Philip Payton, professor of history, Flinders University, Australia

"This vivid and original collection of essays overturns the widely accepted view that the English, alone among immigrants from Europe, failed to develop an ethnic culture in North America. Through wide-ranging research on migrant networks, labor and religious organizations, dance, folk customs, and sport, the authors uncover an important and previously neglected contribution to the mosaic of immigrant life."—Kevin Kenny, author of Diaspora: A Very Short Introduction

"This collection makes a significant contribution to scholarship on English ethnicity and culture in the United States."—the Journal of British Studies