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 Lancashire Cotton Famine
The story of how the American Civil War almost brought the British cotton industry to its knees…

Cleopatra’s Needle
Have you ever wondered why Cleopatra’s Needle is on the Embankment in London, and how it got there? Six men died bringing the Needle to England – and it wasn’t even Cleopatra’s anyway…

World War 1 Timeline – 1916
Important events of 1916 during the third year of the First World War, including Field Marshal Lord Kitchener asking for US military participation.

Margaret Bondfield
January 2014 marks the the 90th anniversary of Somerset-born politician and social activist Margaret Bondfield becoming the first woman minister in the UK parliament in 1924.

The Causes of World War One
What caused World War One? What were the triggers and the spark that ignited the Great War in 1914

Groom of the Stool
Surely one of the most repulsive jobs in history, the ‘Groom of the King’s Close Stool’ was a role created during the reign of Henry VIII to monitor and assist in the king’s bowel motions.

The Shortest War in History
The little known Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896 is generally considered to be the shortest war in history, lasting for a grand total of 38 minutes.

The Act of Union
Uniting the kingdoms of Scotland and England had been proposed for a hundred years before it actually happened in 1707.