This book unpacks the history of British-Israelism in the UK. Remarkably, this subject has had very little attention: remarkable, because at its height in the post-war era, the British-Israelist movement could claim to have tens of thousands of card-carrying adherents and counted amongst its membership admirals, peers, television personalities, MPs and members of the royal family including the King of England.
British-Israelism is the belief that the people of Britain are the descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel. It originated in the writing of a Scottish historian named John Wilson, who toured the country in the mid-Nineteenth Century. Providing a guide to the history of British-Israelism as a movement, including the formation of the British-Israel World Federation, Covenant Publishing, and other institutions, the book explores the complex ways in which British-Israelist thought mirrored developments in ethnic British nationalism during the Twentieth Century.
A detailed study on the subject of British-Israelism is necessary, because British-Israelists constitute an essential element of British life during the most violent and consequential century of its history. As such, this will be a vital resource for any scholar of Minority Religions, New Religious Movements, Nationalism and British Religious History.
Introduction
1 What do British-Israelists believe?
2 A History of British-Israelism in the Twentieth Century
3 British Israelism and the Jews
4 British Israelism and the British Empire
5 British Israelism and Ireland
6 British Israelism and the State of Israel
7 British Israelism and Russia
8 British Israelism and the European Union
Conclusion
Biography
Aidan Cottrell-Boyce completed his PhD in Theology at the University of Cambridge, UK. He has published multiple chapters and articles in journals such as The Review of Religion and International Affairs and the Journal of the Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions.
