The British Inheritance

by Hallam, Elizabeth; Prescott, Andrew; British Library; Great Britain Public Record Office

• ISBN13: 9780520224704
• ISBN10: 0520224701
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-03-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

Britain may no longer be as prominent a player on the international stage as she once was, but her legacy to the world from the last 1000 years will surely endure. To the British people, posterity owes the English language (spoken now by more than half the world's population), a tradition of democratic freedom, governmental and legal systems which have been adapted in many countries, and world figures in science, literature and the arts. The 'British Inheritance' is shared not just by the peoples of the UK but also by those of many lands -- the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, India -- which were once her colonies and are now her allies and partners.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. vii
The Middle Ages	p. 1
King Arthur	p. 2
Alfred 'the Great'	p. 3
Domesday Book	p. 4
The Turbulent Priest	p. 8
The Exchequer and Taxation	p. 9
Celtic Heroes	p. 10
Magna Carta	p. 12
Recording Government	p. 16
Westminster Abbey	p. 18
The Tower of London	p. 19
Simon de Montfort	p. 20
The Mother of Parliaments	p. 21
Patron Saints	p. 22
The Conquest of Wales	p. 24
Scotland: The Wars of Independence	p. 25
'Alasse, Dethe, Alasse'	p. 28
'Who was then the gentleman?'	p. 29
The Rise of the Vernacular	p. 30
Geoffrey Chaucer: the Poet as Civil Servant	p. 31
For Harry, England and St George	p. 32
William Caxton	p. 33
The Wars of the Roses	p. 34
Tudors and Stuarts	p. 35
Henry VIII and the Reformation	p. 36
Henry VIII and his Six Wives	p. 38
The Church and the People	p. 40
Gloriana	p. 41
Mary, Queen of Scots	p. 42
The Stuart Succession	p. 43
William Shakespeare	p. 44
Virginia: an Early American Colony	p. 46
Gunpowder, Treason and Plot	p. 48
Charles I	p. 50
Roundheads and Cavaliers	p. 52
The Commonwealth and the Lord Protector	p. 53
The Monarchy Restored	p. 54
The Great Fire of London	p. 55
The Glorious Revolution	p. 56
Sir Christopher Wren and St Paul's Cathedral	p. 58
The 18th and 19th Centuries	p. 59
The Union of 1707	p. 60
The First Prime Minister	p. 62
Hallelujah Handel	p. 63
Bonnie Prince Charlie	p. 64
Britannia, Rule the Waves	p. 66
A Passage to India	p. 67
Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah	p. 70
The Industrial Revolution	p. 71
The Agricultural Revolution	p. 74
No Taxation Without Representation	p. 76
Captain Cook and Australia	p. 80
The Slave Trade	p. 82
England Expects	p. 84
A Romantic View	p. 86
Radicalism and Reform	p. 88
New Zealand	p. 90
Contacts with the East	p. 91
The Railway Age	p. 92
Victoria and Albert	p. 94
The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben	p. 96
Charles Darwin	p. 97
The Great Exhibition of 1851	p. 98
London's Parks	p. 99
Women Reformers	p. 100
Two Victorian Authors	p. 101
Edinburgh and Cardiff	p. 102
Canada: The First Dominion	p. 103
Gladstone and Disraeli	p. 104
The Scramble for Africa	p. 106
The Victorian Underworld	p. 108
Somdomites and Revolutionaries	p. 109
And is there Honey still for Tea?	p. 110
Whisky and Beer	p. 111
Beside the Seaside	p. 112
A Good Sport	p. 113
Land of Hope and Glory	p. 114
The 20th Century	p. 115
Save Our Souls	p. 116
Scott of the Antarctic	p. 117
In an English Country Garden	p. 118
Votes for Women	p. 119
'Oh What A Lovely War'	p. 120
'Dulce et Decorum est'	p. 122
Lawrence of Arabia	p. 124
Balfour and Palestine	p. 125
The Abdication of Edward VIII	p. 126
The Beeb	p. 127
Their Finest Hour	p. 128
The Turn of the Tide	p. 130
The Welfare State	p. 132
Indian Independence	p. 133
The Cold War	p. 134
George Orwell	p. 135
Britain Celebrates: the Festival of Britain and the Coronation	p. 136
The White Heat of Technology	p. 138
The End of Empire	p. 140
The Commonwealth	p. 142
Britain in Europe	p. 143
Eisteddfodau and Thistles	p. 144
England Swings	p. 146
The Falklands Factor	p. 147
Multi-Cultural Britain	p. 148
Further Reading and Useful Addresses	p. 149
Index	p. 150
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