Indeed there is no shying away from the parallels in this exhibition with so much modern entertainment. Celebrity worship is another human constant; and with celebrity, as any Hugh Grant or Steve Coogan knows, comes sex, obsession and the baying British press.

This exhibition highlights how solid economic bonds can be extinguished, almost overnight in a hail of political wrangling and arguing. It is prescient, although perhaps without meaning to be. Indeed, just as it is impossible to tell the story of Britain after 1945 without reference to Europe, so to is it impossible to tell the story of 18th-century Britain without reference to the Atlantic.

How would you explain Britishness? If we were introducing a foreign ambassador to Britannia with no prior knowledge of her, save for the embarrassing 'ums' and 'ahs' of Mr Bean and Hugh Grant, we would surely draw on a few comfortable self-induced stereotypes.