Understanding Britain


Book Description




British History 1815-1914


Book Description

This fully revised and updated new edition, extended to cover the period up to 1914, provides the ultimate introduction to British history between the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the outbreak of the First World War.




Black and British


Book Description

'[A] comprehensive and important history of black Britain . . . Written with a wonderful clarity of style and with great force and passion.' – Kwasi Kwarteng, Sunday Times In this vital re-examination of a shared history, historian and broadcaster David Olusoga tells the rich and revealing story of the long relationship between the British Isles and the people of Africa and the Caribbean. This edition, fully revised and updated, features a new chapter encompassing the Windrush scandal and the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, events which put black British history at the centre of urgent national debate. Black and British is vivid confirmation that black history can no longer be kept separate and marginalised. It is woven into the cultural and economic histories of the nation and it belongs to us all. Drawing on new genealogical research, original records, and expert testimony, Black and British reaches back to Roman Britain, the medieval imagination, Elizabethan ‘blackamoors’ and the global slave-trading empire. It shows that the great industrial boom of the nineteenth century was built on American slavery, and that black Britons fought at Trafalgar and in the trenches of both World Wars. Black British history is woven into the cultural and economic histories of the nation. It is not a singular history, but one that belongs to us all. Unflinching, confronting taboos, and revealing hitherto unknown scandals, Olusoga describes how the lives of black and white Britons have been entwined for centuries. Winner of the 2017 PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize. Winner of the Longman History Today Trustees’ Award. A Waterstones History Book of the Year. Longlisted for the Orwell Prize. Shortlisted for the inaugural Jhalak Prize.




Black and British: A short, essential history


Book Description

Winner of the Book of the Year, Children's Illustrated and Non-Fiction at The British Book Awards, 2021 Shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year 2020 A short, essential introduction to Black British history for readers of 12+ by award-winning historian and broadcaster David Olusoga. When did Africans first come to Britain? Who are the well-dressed black children in Georgian paintings? Why did the American Civil War disrupt the Industrial Revolution? These and many other questions are answered in this essential introduction to 1800 years of the Black British history: from the Roman Africans who guarded Hadrian’s Wall right up to the present day. This children's version of the bestseller Black and British: A Forgotten History is illustrated with maps, photos and portraits. Macmillan Children's Books will donate 50p from every copy sold to The Black Curriculum.







Royal Historical Society Annual Bibliography of British and Irish History


Book Description

The Royal Historical Society's Annual Bibliography of British and Irish History provides a comprehensive and authoritative survey of books and articles on historical topics published in a single calendar year. It is available before the end of the following year. The volume is divided into sections, to cover all periods of British and Irish history from Roman Britain to the end of the twentieth century, and is arranged alphabetically. It also includes sections on imperial and commonwealth history. Over two hundred journals are searched annually, and the editor's aim is to list all relevant books and articles published in the UK. Each section is edited by a specialist in the field; the whole is edited by Austin Gee for the Royal Historical Society. The book's contents are indexed by author, by place, by personal name, and by subject. The subject keywords enable scholars to trace publications in which they are interested, beyond the information conveyed in the title. The Annual Bibliography is the most complete and up-to-date bibliography of its type, and an indispensable tool for historians.




Peoples of the British Isles


Book Description

The Peoples of the British Isles examines the conflicts and commonalities among the peoples of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales from prehistoric times to the present. The series focuses throughout on the lives of real people-how they made a living, organized their society and institutions, related to each other, and understood themselves and their world. The new edition of these books features a fuller treatment of the Celtic countries and expanded and integrated content on both popular culture and the changing roles of women in society throughout history. Volume I covers the development of the Four Nations of the British Isles from the prehistoric era up to the revolution of 1688.




What We Wore


Book Description

Filled with images selected from the personal photo albums of the British public, What We Wore provides a visual timeline of UK fashion since the 1950s. In What We Wore, crowdsourced family and amateur photos come together to create a makeshift style history of Britain. Taking readers into homes, onto city streets, into shops, and out to nightclubs and holiday spots, this book features a combination of original images and intriguing personal anecdotes that document changes in British fashion and style. The book encompasses the worlds of Mods, punks, ravers, grime kids, and everything in between, with photos submitted by everyday British people as well as celebrities, including Tracey Emin, Jeremy Deller, Jazzie B., DJ Harvey, and Don Letts. From black-and-white photos taken with Rolleiflex cameras and Polaroid party shots, to 35mm film and "selfies," these images and words combine to create a collective family album that feels both private and public, satisfying our yearning for nostalgia as well as our voyeuristic tendencies. Most importantly, this book records and explains British fashion trends and gives the reader a rare insider's glimpse into youth tribes and subcultures from the past 60 years.




Fifty Things You Need To Know About British History


Book Description

What are the 50 key events you need to understand to grasp British history?




A History of British Art


Book Description

Andrew Graham-Dixon unveils the long-kept secret of Britain's rich and vital visual culture.