This volume covers the nature and operation of different organs of the constitution. It includes documents dealing with Parliament; the monarchy; the legal system; the Church; the Prime Minister and the Cabinet; the Civil Service; and local government. It presents accounts from insiders who were directly involved in working these institutions; and of the perceptions of outside observers. It identifies documents pertaining to key moments of change in the history of these entities, including alterations in the relations between them. It deals with matters including their legal basis, their internal structures, and the importance of precedent to the way in which they functioned in relation to one-another.

The period from 1957-1988 was transformative for the international oil industry. As the home to two major oil companies, BP and Shell, as well as the possessor of large quantities of oil and gas in its territorial waters, the United Kingdom was at the heart of this transition. While famous for its liberal policy towards oil and gas production, both before and after the discovery of North Sea oil and gas, this period actually saw the United Kingdom respond to shifts in power from the major oil companies to the oil-producing states, many of them in OPEC, by building up its competency regarding oil matters. This took the form of efforts to influence the activities of BP and Shell abroad as well as in creation of a state-run oil company, the British National Oil Corporation, in an attempt to exercise greater state control over oil and gas production and distribution. The failure of these efforts was driven in part by internal divisions within Whitehall, the efforts of the oil companies themselves, and ultimately the political will of the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher to get the state out of the business of oil and gas.

'A book worth reading' Andrew Marr, Sunday Times The Debatable Land was an independent territory which used to exist between Scotland and England. At the height of its notoriety, it was the bloodiest region in Great Britain, fought over by Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and James V. After the Union of the Crowns, most of its population was slaughtered or deported and it became the last part of the country to be brought under the control of the state. Today, its history has been forgotten or ignored. When Graham Robb moved to a lonely house on the very edge of England, he discovered that the river which almost surrounded his new home had once marked the Debatable Land's southern boundary. Under the powerful spell of curiosity, Robb began a journey - on foot, by bicycle and into the past - that would uncover lost towns and roads, reveal the truth about this maligned patch of land and result in more than one discovery of major historical significance. Rich in detail and epic in scope, The Debatable Land takes us from a time when neither England nor Scotland could be imagined to the present day, when contemporary nationalism and political turmoil threaten to unsettle the cross-border community once more. Writing with his customary charm, wit and literary grace, Graham Robb proves the Debatable Land to be a crucial, missing piece in the puzzle of British history. Includes a 16-page colour plate section.

Britain's love of its pleasure beaches gave rise to a peculiar holiday culture - the seaside. Here a usually reserved nation would let its hair down, roll up its trousers, put on a kiss-me-quick hat and laugh at bawdy entertainers. From Victorian sobriety and Edwardian elegance through working-class high spirits to the present day, this book celebrates the place that the seaside holds in all our hearts. PA Photos is the photography arm of the PA Group, which also owns the Press Association, the UK's national news agency. Established in the late 19th Century, the PA has been capturing editorial photography for 140 years, resulting in an extraordinary archive of over 15 million images recording British life over more than a century.

A charming, lively and often amusing tour of 36 forgotten episodes and overlooked people and places of Scottish history. While Scotland's history cannot be separated from its kings and queens, saints and warriors, there is a rich story to tell about the country's lesser-known places, people and events. This colourful history of Scotland tells those other tales, half-forgotten or misunderstood, that have been submerged by the wash of history. Bringing these stories to light and to life, this entertaining book reveals the richness and complexity of this nation on the northwest edge of Europe. Alistair Moffat guides us from the geological formation of the land that makes up Scotland to the first evidence of human habitation right up to modern times. In the process, we learn about the cave of headless children, the origins of the Scottish kings and the real heroes of Scottish independence, the invention of tartan and the romance of the Highlands, Scotland's answer to Shakespeare, and the many U.S. Presidents with Scottish heritage, among many other fascinating tales brought to life by Joe McLaren's attractive woodcut-style illustrations. Even the most knowledgeable Scot will experience a sense of newfound knowledge and appreciation for this unique country, its history and people.

Steeped in conspiracy, scandal and socialism - the disappearance of radical icon Victor Grayson is a puzzle that's never been solved. A firebrand and Labour politician who rose to prominence in the early twentieth century, Grayson was idolised by hundreds of thousands of Britons but despised by the establishment. After a tumultuous life, he walked out of his London apartment in September 1920 and was never seen again. After a century, new documents have come to light. Fragments of an unpublished autobiography, letters to his lovers (both men and women), leading political and literary figures including H.G. Wells and George Bernard Shaw, and testimonies from members of the Labour elite such as Clement Attlee have revealed the real Victor Grayson. New research has uncovered the true events leading up to his disappearance and suggests that he was actually blackmailed by his former Party. In a time when homosexuality was illegal, and socialism an international threat to capitalism, Grayson was a clear target for those wanting to stamp out dissent. This extraordinary biography reinstates to history a man who laid the foundations for a whole generation of militant socialists in Britain.

A special gift book this Christmas From young princess to internationally revered head of state, Queen Elizabeth has always fascinated and intrigued. This fully updated second edition celebrates and remembers the glorious reign of Britain's longest-serving and much cherished monarch. Drawn from nearly a century of detailed and fascinating reporting by The Times, discover insights and memories of the extraordinary period of social change that was our nation's second Elizabethan age. Featuring Queen Elizabeth's obituary, as published in The Times Reflections of a nation in mourning, with images from the state funeral A collection of essays and articles written by leading royal historians, including Ben Macintyre, Hugo Vickers, Valentine Low and Professor Kate Williams Full-colour images from The Times archives

James William Newland's (1810-1857) career as a showman daguerreotypist began in the United States but expanded into Central and South America, across the Pacific to New Zealand and colonial Australia and onto India. Newland used the latest developments in photography, theatre and spectacle to create powerful new visual experiences for audiences in each of these volatile colonial societies. This book assesses his surviving, vivid portraits against other visual ephemera and archival records of his time. Newland's magic lantern and theatre shows are imaginatively reconstructed from textual sources and analysed, with his short, rich career casting a new light on the complex worlds of the mid-nineteenth century. It provides a revealing case study of someone brokering new experiences with optical technologies for varied audiences at the forefront of the age of modern vision. This book will be of interest to scholars in art and visual culture, photography, the history of photography and Victorian history.

A Military History of the English Civil War examines how the civil war was won, who fought for whom, and why it ended. With a straightforward style and clear chronology that enables readers to make their own judgements and pursue their own interests further, this original history provides a thorough critique of the reasons that have been cited for Parliament's victory and the King's defeat in 1645/46. It discusses the strategic options of the Parliamentary and Royalist commanders and councils of war and analyses the decisions they made, arguing that the King's faulty command structure was more responsible for his defeat than Sir Thomas Fairfax's strategic flair. It also argues that the way that resources were used, rather than the resources themselves, explain why the war ended when it did.

This wide-ranging collection brings together multiple perspectives on a key period in Irish history, from the Fenian Rising in 1867 to the creation of the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland in 1921, with a focus on the formation of Irish identity. The chapters, written by team of experts, focus on key individuals or ideological groups and consider how they perceived Ireland's future, what their sense of Irish identity was, and who they saw as the enemy. Providing a new angle on Ireland during the period from 1867 to 1921, this book will be important reading for all those with an interest in Irish history.

British Civilization: A Student's Dictionary is an invaluable reference guide to the British way of life.It explains the often puzzling and confusing terms and phrases used routinely in Britain and by British people.

This easy-reference alphabetical guide sheds light on a comprehensive selection of words, phrases, organizations and institutions. All these are fundamental features of British civilization and society, and include aspects of:

* politics and government
* the Law, economics and industry
* education
* the media
* religion and social welfare
* health and housing
* leisure and transport.

This volume examines the critical factors and processes by which the Provisional Irish Republican movement campaign from 1969 to 1998 transformed a once acquiescent nationalist population in Northern Ireland into a counterpublic of resistance demanding national self-determination and social justice. Considering the establishment of Irish Republican community institutions, prison protests, Republican Feminism, and Provisional IRA media and communications, this volume explores the emergence of Republicanism as a mass social movement in the nationalist Catholic ghettos and rural regions of Northern Ireland in the 1970s - a development that helped to sustain the armed struggle of the Provisional Irish Republican Army for three decades. An examination of the emergence and transformative power of the counterpublic discourse and action of the Irish Republican movement, this volume provides a framework for conceptualizing counterpublics in social movement studies. As such it will appeal to scholars of sociology, history, and politics with interests in social movements and mobilization.

Britain in the Twentieth Century is a new approach to teaching and learning twentieth century British history at A level. It meets the needs of teachers and students studying for today's revised AS and A2 exams.
In a unique style, Britain in the Twentieth Century focuses on the key topics within the period. Each topic is then comprehensively explored to provide background, essay writing advice and examples, source work and historical skills.
From 1900 to the new millennium, the key topics featured include:
* Britain in a new century, 1900-1914
* the First World War and its impact
* inter-war domestic problems
* British foreign policy, 1919-1939
* Britain and the Second World War
* social and economic change, 1945-1979.

The kingdom of Scotland has had a turbulent history, at points the site of a tribal contest and of a far-reaching political controversy. This guide traces the history of the Scottish crown from Kenneth MacAlpin in 843 AD to Jame VI in 1603 when the crown became one with England.This informative guide is filled with family trees and colour photographs of fascinating portraits and artefacts from Scotland's history. It provides an accessible and informative introduction to the story of the country's monarchy and the complex and dangerous competition that surrounded the crown.This well-researched guide covers each Scottish house and ruler in separate comprehensively detailed sections, all the way until George III was acknowledged as the Stuart successor in 1807.Look out for more Pitkin Guides on the very best of British history, heritage and travel, including others in a series of historical titles about Scotland.

The essays in this book focus on the controversies concerning Britain's economic performance between the mid-nineteenth century and the First World War. The overriding theme is that Britain's own resources were consistently more productive, more resilient and more successful than is normally assumed. And if the economy's achievement was considerable, the influence on it of external factors (trade, international competition, policy) were much less significant than is normally supposed. The book is structured as follows: Part One: The Method of Historical Economics Part Two: Enterprise in Late Victorian Britain Part Three: Britain in the World Economy, 1846-1913.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER '[A] clever, lively ... splendid new book' DAN JONES, SUNDAY TIMES 'A big gold bar of delight' SPECTATOR Sixteen hundred years ago Britain left the Roman Empire and swiftly fell into ruin. Into this violent and unstable world came foreign invaders from across the sea, and established themselves as its new masters. In this sweeping and original history, renowned historian Marc Morris separates the truth from the legend and tells the extraordinary story of how the foundations of England were laid. 'Marc Morris is a genius of medieval narrative' IAN MORTIMER, author of The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England 'Brilliant ... Beautifully written, incredibly accessible and deeply researched' JAMES O'BRIEN 'A much-needed book ... A gripping story, beautifully told' BERNARD CORNWELL, author of The Last Kingdom 'Highly informative and hugely enjoyable' IAN HISLOP 'A vivid, sharply drawn story of seven centuries of profound political change' THOMAS PENN, author of The Winter King

Private papers, diaries and memoirs, as well as official government and Foreign Office records are used within this book to produce a detailed critical analysis of the attitudes of the British political elite towards the Soviet Union, which assesses the influence such attitudes had upon British foreign policy between May 1937 and August 1939.

Britain, 1846 - 1919 is an exciting new approach to teaching and learning late nineteenth and early twentieth century British History at A Level, up to and including the First World War. It meets the needs of teachers and students studying for today's new AS level exams.
In a unique style, Britain, 1846-1919 focuses on the key topics within the period. Each topic is then comprehensively explored to provide background, essay-writing advice and examples, source work and historical skills exercises.
From 1846 to 1919, the key topics featured include:
* the Age of the Railways
* Public Health and Social Policy
* Gladstone and Disraeli at home and abroad
* the Irish Question
* the Liberal and Coalition Ministries in the early Twentieth century.
Using essay styles and source exercises from each of the exam boards, AQA, Edexcel and OCR, this book is an essential text for students and teachers.

Originally published in 1958, this new impression of The Queen's Wards from 1973 made available once more a work that remains a significant contribution to the history of society and government in Elizabethan England. The Court of Wards was a bizarre institution with roots going back to feudal mediaeval times. Revived by Henry VII, formally instituted by Henry VIII, the concept of wardship reached its zenith in Elizabethan times, when it was used as a powerful weapon in the raising of revenues and in controlling the aristocracy. The Court administered on behalf of the Crown the properties of fatherless minors (of whom there were many), bought and sold the rights to exploit these properties during the minority of the heirs, and even sold the heirs themselves into marriage (or withheld permission to marry). This control of marriage rights was clearly open to abuse, corruption and political exploitation, and as a symptom of Elizabethan times the Court provides an interesting and illuminating subject for study. The system had a special significance in government policy and played a considerable role in the politics of the age: this is attested to by the fact that for nearly half a century the history of the Court of Wards is dominated by William Cecil (Lord Burghley) and his son Robert. Many other prominent courtiers and politicians were involved, and figure in this book.

'A gripping, heart-breaking account of the famine winter of 1847' - Rosemary Goring, The Herald Longlisted for the Highland Book Prize When Scotland's 1846 potato crop was wiped out by blight, the country was plunged into crisis. In the Hebrides and the West Highlands a huge relief effort came too late to prevent starvation and death. Further east, meanwhile, towns and villages from Aberdeen to Wick and Thurso, rose up in protest at the cost of the oatmeal that replaced potatoes as people's basic foodstuff. Oatmeal's soaring price was blamed on the export of grain by farmers and landlords cashing in on even higher prices elsewhere. As a bitter winter gripped and families feared a repeat of the calamitous famine then ravaging Ireland, grain carts were seized, ships boarded, harbours blockaded, a jail forced open, the military confronted. The army fired on one set of rioters. Savage sentences were imposed on others. But thousands-strong crowds also gained key concessions. Above all they won cheaper food. Those dramatic events have long been ignored or forgotten. Now, in James Hunter, they have their historian. The story he tells is, by turns, moving, anger-making and inspiring. In an era of food banks and growing poverty, it is also very timely.

Tartan Gangs and Paramilitaries is a new oral history of the loyalist backlash of the early 1970s in Northern Ireland. In the violent maelstrom of Belfast in 1971 and 1972 many young members of loyalist youth gangs known as 'Tartans' converged with fledgling paramilitary groups such as the Red Hand Commando, Ulster Volunteer Force and Young Citizen Volunteers. This fresh account focuses on the manner in which the loyalist community in Belfast reacted to an increasingly vicious Provisional IRA campaign and explores the violent role that young loyalist men played in the period from 1970 - 1975. Through the use of unique one-on-one interviews former members of Tartan gangs and loyalist paramilitaries explain what motivated them to cross the Rubicon from gang activity to paramilitaries. The book utilises a wide range of sources such as newspaper articles, loyalist newssheets, coroners' inquest reports and government memorandums to provide the context for a dynamic new study of the emergence of loyalist paramilitarism.

This is a fascinating story of the meteoric rise and fall of one of the grandest noble families in medieval England set against the backdrop of Viking raids and the Norman Conquest of 1066. Among the most famous families in English history was that of the Earl Godwin of Wessex ,whose most famous son was King Harold. KEY TOPICS: This is the history of the powerful Godwin dynasty, from the mystery of their ancestral origins and background, to their rise to power under King Cnut, and their opportunism and accumulation of wealth under his successors. Frank Barlow charts the family through to Harold - the last Anglo-Saxon king - and finally the crowning of William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest. It was a period of violent upheaval in English history with Viking attacks and the conquest of England by Danish kings. The author unravels the gripping history of a feuding family that nevertheless determined the course and fortunes of all the English. MARKET: For those interested in Medieval, British or Scandinavian history.

This is the most wide-ranging study ever published of political violence and the punishment of Irish political offenders from 1848 to the founding of the Irish Free State in 1922. Those who chose violence to advance their Irish nationalist beliefs ranged from gentlemen revolutionaries to those who openly embraced terrorism or even full-scale guerilla war.
Seán McConville provides a comprehensive survey of Irish revolutionary struggle, matching chapters on punishment of offenders with descriptions and analysis of their campaigns. Government's response to political violence was determined by a number of factors, including not only the nature of the offences but also interest and support from the United States and Australia, as well as current objectives of Irish policy.