A conundrum called "Britishness"

This book is part of a new "ethnic noir" genre in publishing and follows a spate of memoirs by prominent Asians and Afro-Caribbeans

The Life and Times of a Very British Man

Kamal Ahmed 

Bloomsbury 

Pages 337, Rs 599

The idea of “Britishness” has been endlessly debated for as long as one can remember but remains tantalisingly elusive. Everyone  has at least a vague sense of what it means to be English, Welsh, Irish or Scottish. But ask anyone what it means to be British, they will struggle to explain. 

That’s because there’s no such thing as Britishness. It’s an artificial construct, a catch-all term invented to create a collective sense of identity to rein in competing English, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish nationalisms.