BRIEF HISTORY OF BRITAIN 1851-2021

The revised and updated fourth and final volume in a highly acclaimed series which begins in the specially-constructed Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition, showcasing British national achievement in 1851, three times the length of St. Paul's Cathedral and staged in Hyde Park. It was a time of confidence in the future and exuberant patriotism for Britain's role in it, at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution, and at the heart of a great empire, with Queen Victoria still to reign for 50 years. The beginning of WWII in 1939 marks a turning point because of the great change it heralded in Britain's global standing. At its peak, protected by the world's greatest Navy, the British Empire stretched from Australasia to Canada, from Hong Kong and India to South Africa, and from Jamaica to the Falklands. Now the empire is no more - a fundamental change not only for the world, but also for Britain. The Second World War had been won, but it had exhausted Britain and marked the beginning of its national decline. Professor Black links cultural and political developments closely - transport, health, migration and economic and geographic factors - in order to make clear how porous and changeable the manifestations of national civilisation can be, and to make sense of themes such as the triumph of town over country, Britain's international clout, and the shift from the dominance of the market at the turn of the 19th century to the growing significance of the state. Importantly he also looks at how public history has presented the nation's past, and how the changing and different ways we look at the past are central aspects of our shared history. A brilliant potted version of events in this most informative record, a solid overview of the period. 390pp, paperback.