The Shortest History of England
Empire and Division From the Anglo-saxons to Brexit—a Retelling for Our Times
The Experiment · Print & ebook · March 15, 2022
England—begetter of parliaments and globe-spanning empires, star of beloved period dramas, and home of the House of Windsor—is not quite the stalwart island fortress that many of us imagine.
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- Who it’s for
- A brisk account of England’s fractures, from ancient fault lines to the politics behind today’s headlines.
- Genres
- British History, 20th-Century Britain, 21st-Century Britain
- Published
- The Experiment, March 15, 2022
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England—begetter of parliaments and globe-spanning empires, star of beloved period dramas, and home of the House of Windsor—is not quite the stalwart island fortress that many of us imagine. Riven by an ancient fault line that predates even the Romans, its fate has ever been bound up with that of its neighbors; and for the past millennia, it has harbored a class system like nowhere else on Earth.
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This bracing tour of the most powerful country in the United Kingdom reveals an England repeatedly invaded and constantly reinvented—yet always fractured by its very own Mason-Dixon Line. It carries us swiftly through centuries of conflict between Crown and Parliament (starring the Magna Carta), America’s War of Independence, the rise and fall of empire, two World Wars, and England’s break from the EU. We discover: - why the American colonists of 1776 believed that they were the true Anglo-Saxons - how the British Empire was undermined from within - why Winston Churchill said the UK could only be saved by splitting up England itself - and how populism spawned Brexit and its “new elite.” The Shortest History of England brings all this and more to prescient life—offering the most direct, compelling route to understanding the country behind today’s headlines. The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.
Fault Lines of England
A brisk account of England’s fractures, from ancient fault lines to the politics behind today’s headlines.
Come here for
- England’s history through the lens of division, class, and reinvention
- Connections between empire, American independence, and Brexit
Expect
- A sweeping journey across centuries of conflict and change
- History that links England’s past to its present
Where it sits
| British History | 96% |
|---|---|
| 20th-Century Britain | 56% |
| 21st-Century Britain | 39% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- European History
- British History
- European Politics
- Authors
- James Hawes
- Publisher
- The Experiment
- Published
- March 15, 2022
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- European History