The Four Nations; A History of the United Kingdom

by Frank Welsh

• ISBN13: 9780300093742
• ISBN10: 0300093748
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2003-12-19
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

Even by comparison to the United States, the United Kingdom has had a brief and fractious history. Its existence as an undivided entity lasted only for a disputatious 125 years, and its future remains precarious. In The Four Nations, Frank Welsh offers a lively narrative history of the four component parts of the British Isles--England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Moving from the Roman period, which first defined many of the current internal boundaries, through the present day, Welsh describes the history of each nation, their interactions, and the impacts of crises ranging from the Norman Invasion to the Protestant Reformation to the two world wars of the twentieth century. Along the way, Welsh questions many cherished illusions and poses some awkward questions: To what extent were Scotland, Ireland, and Wales victims of predatory English aggression? How serious is the frequently invoked specter of national fragmentation? Filled with illuminating vignettes and provocative insights, The Four Nations is an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the troub

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	xi
List of Maps	xv
Acknowledgments	xvii
Introduction	xix
54 BC--AD 500
Fiercest and most distant of men	1	(14)
Barbarian concerns	15	(4)
The end of Britannia	19	(4)
AD 500--1066
The first English kingdom	23	(8)
Saints and scholars	31	(9)
Picts, Scots, Britons and Anglians	40	(2)
Furor Normannorum	42	(12)
The fateful year	54	(4)
1066--1300
Family quarrels	58	(5)
A better pattern of living	63	(16)
Welshmen are Welshmen . . .	79	(8)
1300--1540
The Wars of independence	87	(10)
Owain Glyn Dwr	97	(4)
Ireland is separate from the realm of England	101	(6)
Tudors and Stuarts	107	(7)
1540--1603
The Elizabethan settlement	114	(8)
Reformation in Wales and Ireland	122	(16)
The monstrous regiment of women	138	(6)
An English nation?	144	(2)
1603--1660
The royal Crowns united	146	(5)
Loose and absolved . . .	151	(5)
Colonies nearer home	156	(5)
The King's head	161	(6)
An ill-favoured massacre	167	(8)
The second attempt at Union	175	(4)
1660--1750
Restoration	179	(3)
Glorious Bloodless Revolution?	182	(7)
A Third World economy?	189	(7)
The Act of Union	196	(12)
Send us our boobies again	208	(6)
An affectionate, tender-spirited people	214	(3)
1750--1830
Wild Geese	217	(10)
Who dares to speak of '98?	227	(9)
The proper distribution of loaves and fishes	236	(4)
Scotland has long groaned under the chains of England	240	(10)
Unfinished business	250	(11)
1830--1860
Protestant ascendancy and Catholic degradation	261	(4)
The Great Hunger	265	(8)
Infant Ireland	273	(5)
Welsh bards and Scotch dominies	278	(10)
1860--1893
Bold Fenian men	288	(8)
My mission is to pacify Ireland	296	(7)
The Kilmainham Treaty	303	(6)
I cannot allow it to be said . . .	309	(7)
Justice for Scotland . . .	316	(4)
Drink and divinity	320	(5)
1893--1950
The last of the Liberals	325	(8)
There are things stronger . . .	333	(9)
Gallant allies	342	(5)
The `War of Independence'	347	(3)
New nations	350	(7)
Free State to Republic	357	(8)
Lay the lash upon their backs	365	(5)
1950--2001
Not just yet	370	(5)
Ye Happie Ilands . . .	375	(5)
Oil and vinegar	380	(7)
Languages are the pedigree of nations	387	(5)
Ireland North and South	392	(5)
The end of the United Kingdom?	397	(9)
More unfinished business	406	(7)
Notes	413	(24)
Bibliography	437	(18)
Index	455