Month: April 2024

The Second World War, the largest and most savage conflict to date in the history of the world, began in 1939 and ended officially in 1945.  Still within living memory, this war saw the entire world fighting for peace, freedom and an end to the tyranny of German allied expansionism.  After the First World War…

How did the assassination of one man lead to the greatest war the world had ever seen?  By its end, nine million soldiers and seven million civilians had died in the most extensive, violent and world-altering conflict that had ever been seen in history. At the time the Great War, as it was known, was…

The Victorian Age Along with the Tudors, this is probably the most iconic age of Britain.  So many of our current moral and ethical standards come directly from the Victorian era, and the older ones among us may remember talking to real Victorians in our grandparents and great grandparents. Beginning in 1837 with her ascension…

From the south China seas to the Mediterranean, pirates availed themselves of poorly protected cargoes, earning riches and notoriety in the process.  Famous names like Captain Kidd, “Calico” Jack Rackham, Bartholomew Roberts, Henry Morgan and of course Edward “Blackbeard” Teach struck fear into the hearts of sailors tasked getting their cargoes safely home. Piracy has…

Probably the most iconic period in British history, the Tudor dynasty was the beginning of what we call modern Britain!  The Tudors, and their immediate successors the Stuarts, brought us ideas, literature, art and architecture, and concepts of Britishness that still pervade our culture today.  It was the time of Henry VIII, his six wives,…

The Norman conquest The Normans won the Battle of Hastings, but was it all fun and games from then on? Imagine having to move to a new country, learn a new language, and all the while worry about whether the English peasants were looking to kill you in your sleep! How do you even know…

The Vikings With a reputation for fearsome bloodshed and vicious acts, the Vikings thundered out of Scandinavia in the late 8th Century AD and cut a swathe across most of Europe for the next 300 years.  Britain was an easy target – wealthy, busy fighting amongst themselves and with too much confidence in the natural…

The Anglo Saxon Period The period from the end of Roman occupation to the Battle of Hastings (circa 410 – 1066AD) is often sadly overlooked when studying history.  Most modern books of Kings and Queens, for example, start with William the Conqueror, and forget that England had been ruled by a single monarch for over…

The Romans and the Britons The Romans brought the biggest change to Britain since the last ice age, taking an island of warring Celtic iron age tribes and turning them into part of the vast and civilised Roman Empire.  Of course it didn’t always go smoothly! Arriving first in 55BC under Julius Caesar, but being…