The History of Britain Magazine
Welcome to the History of Britain! The home nations share a varied and shared history unlike anywhere else, so we thought it only right to create a section dedicated to our mutual heritage.
The Cobra Effect – When Incentives Go Wrong
The Cobra Effect is a term which describes the unintended results when an incentive scheme goes wrong. The term originates from an anecdote dating from the days of the British Raj. when a bounty was offered for dead cobras in an attempt to reduce the cobra population…
The Bombardment of Algiers
On 27th August 1816, the coastal city and capital Algiers was bombarded by an Anglo-Dutch fleet under the command of Admiral Edward Pellew. The goal was simple, to end the white slavery practised by the Barbary pirates out of Algiers…
Battle Of Cartagena de Indias: The Victory That Never Was
The attack on Spanish port of Cartagena during the War of Jenkin’s Ear was a total catastrophe for Britain. The death of the commander of the fleet early in the campaign left two inexperienced officers squabbling over tactics…
HMT Empire Windrush
HMT Empire Windrush became synonymous with the voyage it completed in 1948, transporting hundreds of West Indians and people from other countries via the Caribbean to England. However the ship was originally a German vessel…
The Dreadnought Hoax
This famous hoax took place in 1910 onboard HMS Dreadnought, the Royal Navy’s most advanced warship of the day and involved a group of friends masquerading as a delegation of Abyssinian royals…
Operation Pied Piper: British Evacuees
As war loomed, in September 1939 more than a million British civilians, mostly children, were evacuated out of the cities and into the countryside for their protection from anticipated bombing raids. This was Operation Pied Piper…
Samuel Plimsoll and the Plimsoll Line
Philanthropist, inventor and reformer, MP Samuel Plimsoll is best remembered for his vigorous campaign for load lines to be painted on the side of ships to prevent them being overloaded and sinking, thereby saving many lives at sea.
King James I – First Royal Submariner?
The alleged voyage of King James I in a submarine under the River Thames remains one of the most intriguing mysteries of 17th-century England…
