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.
They were the British naval vessels that officially didn’t exist; the mystery ships of World War One. Their mission was to hunt, decoy and destroy German submarines….
The planning of the D Day landings was almost complete – what could possibly go wrong?…
It was a storyline worthy of the world’s most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes; and Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle, the creator of the great sleuth, was caught up in the plot…
The Mold Riots in 1869 by Welsh miners.
It’s a cliché that it takes a lot to rouse the reserved, polite British to action, but during the long hot summer of 1858 it was clear that the time for talking was over. The Mother of Parliaments was deeply offended by the poor personal hygiene of her neighbour, Old Father Thames…
26th January is the official national day of Australia and marks the arrival of the First Fleet of British ships and the raising of the Union flag at Sydney Cove. The fleet included six ships transporting around 1,000 convicts…
The only British Prime Minister ever to be assassinated, Spencer Perceval was shot in the lobby of the House of Commons in 1812…
The words “Empire Day” summon up an image of a motherly Queen Victoria presiding over an Empire which spanned almost a quarter of the entire globe. However it was not until after the death of Queen Victoria that Empire Day was first celebrated…
Taphophobia, the fear of being buried alive and waking up in one’s own grave, is the stuff of nightmares. Hannah Beswick had a pathological fear of premature burial, after her brother John was found to be still alive at his own funeral…
By 1825, cotton was Britain’s biggest import. It became the centrepiece of the developing industrial revolution which impacted the country socially, economically and culturally for generations…
Click here for this month's articles in our History of England magazine.
Click here for this month's articles in our History of Scotland magazine.
Click here for this month's articles in our History of Wales magazine.