Abstract
Now that the Channel Tunnel has finally moved from the realms of fantasy to reality, it is easy to forget how much controversy there has been over the last 150 years about the pros and cons of linking Britain not only to the Continent, but especially to France. In this article, Dr Wilson provides an historical insight into a key period from 1880 to 1930 when Channel Tunnel plans were sabotaged by anxieties and fears, mainly imagined, which led to the demonisation of France and the repeated defeat of efforts to construct a Tunnel. Dr Wilson concludes that behind the façade of anti‐French feeling was really an unwillingness to narrow a vision of Britain's position as an Empire to merely Continental power linked irrevocably to the fate of France While the final outcome has been to overcome the sceptics, much of the rhetoric still has reverberations today.
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