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.
K for King in the Car Park – Henry I?
Incredibly, could there be another ‘King in a Car Park’? Philippa Langley, instrumental in the search and discovery of the remains of King Richard III under a Leicester car park, may be on the trail of another ‘king in a car park’, this time Henry I in Reading…
A Very Victorian Two-Penny Hangover
The term ‘hangover’ is universally understood to mean the disproportionate suffering that comes after a night of over-indulgence. But where does the term actually come from? One possible explanation is, somewhat strangely, Victorian England…
A Tale of Two Brummies
In 1903 two Brummies, Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain and businessman Leopold Greenberg, proposed a scheme to facilitate the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Africa…
Rule Britannia
The patriotic song ‘Rule, Britannia!, Britannia rule the waves’, is traditionally performed at the ‘Last Night of the Proms’. The first public performance of ‘Rule, Britannia!’ however, was in London in 1745, and it instantly became very popular for a nation trying to…
Revive the Airship!
There have been several false dawns for the airship industry since its heyday during the 1920s and 1930s, but the time could now be right for the revival of this beautiful, arcadian, romantic and environmentally friendly form of flight…
Interned by the Japanese in World War Two
88-year-old Ian Gedye was just 10 years old when he was interned with his family for 3 years in a Japanese camp. Here he shares his experiences with us…
Sir Ernest Shackleton and Endurance
A legendary figure in the history of polar exploration, Ernest Shackleton led three British expeditions to the Antarctic including the ‘Endurance’ expedition of 1914-16. With little prospect of surviving on the island, Shackleton took matters into his own hands and set out once more in one of his small lifeboat vessels with…
VJ Day
There was much joy and celebration around the world when on 15th August 1945 US President Harry S Truman declared the day as Victory over Japan Day. To crowds gathered outside the White House, President Truman said: “This is the day we have been waiting for since Pearl Harbor.”
Historic August
View our list of historic events that occurred in the month of August. Among many other events, August saw the last English king to die in battle, and…
Angela Burdett-Coutts, Philanthropist
“After my mother, she is the most remarkable woman in the kingdom”. This was how King Edward VII described Angela Burdett-Coutts, an outspoken and dedicated philanthropist, who helped to found both the NSPCC and RSPCA, as well as funding countless other humanitarian causes…