How the myth of ‘Blitz spirit’ defined and divided London after 7/7

By Darren Kelsey, Reader in Media and Collective Psychology, Newcastle University

The “Blitz spirit” is one of Britain’s most enduring national myths – the stories we tell ourselves about who we were, and who we still believe we are today. Growing up among football fans, I heard constant nostalgic refrains about England and Germany, wartime bravery and national pride.

Chants about “two world wars and one World Cup” or “ten German bombers in the air” were cultural rituals, flexes of a shared memory that many had never…

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