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Britain at Bay: Defence Against Bonaparte, 1803-14
by Richard GloverIn the years 1803-5 Napoleon Bonaparte built 4 new harbours on his channel coast and assembled enough landing craft to put an army of over 165,000 men ashore on English beaches. Was this threat to Britain really serious and should we dismiss it as pure Bluff? Why was it never revived after Bonaparte's continental wars against the Russians, Austrians and Prussians? What did the English do about defending themselves? This book, originally published in 1973 tackles these questions. It shows why Bonaparte's flotilla was no Bluff but something the British were right to take seriously and also how their preparations to defend the beaches within reach of its bases made a revival of the flotilla after 1807 pointless. Though recognising the importance of Trafalgar the book rejects the fallacy that this victory ended Britain's danger. The book covers the background of the war, Britain's defence organisation, the Royal Navy's tasks, Bonaparte's preparations and how the British made ready to meet him.
Britain at Bay: Defence Against Bonaparte, 1803-14
by Richard GloverIn the years 1803-5 Napoleon Bonaparte built 4 new harbours on his channel coast and assembled enough landing craft to put an army of over 165,000 men ashore on English beaches. Was this threat to Britain really serious and should we dismiss it as pure Bluff? Why was it never revived after Bonaparte's continental wars against the Russians, Austrians and Prussians? What did the English do about defending themselves? This book, originally published in 1973 tackles these questions. It shows why Bonaparte's flotilla was no Bluff but something the British were right to take seriously and also how their preparations to defend the beaches within reach of its bases made a revival of the flotilla after 1807 pointless. Though recognising the importance of Trafalgar the book rejects the fallacy that this victory ended Britain's danger. The book covers the background of the war, Britain's defence organisation, the Royal Navy's tasks, Bonaparte's preparations and how the British made ready to meet him.
Britain, Australia and the Bomb: The Nuclear Tests and their Aftermath
by L. Arnold M. SmithBritain, Australia and the Bomb tells the story of the unique partnership between the two countries to develop nuclear weapons in the 1940s and 1950s. This new edition includes fresh evidence about the weapons under development, the effects of the tests on participants, and the recent clean-up of the testing range.
Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the Challenge of the United States, 1939–46: A Study in International History (Studies in Military and Strategic History)
by P. OrdersThis book relates the development of Anglo-Australian-New Zealand relations during and immediately after the second world war to the role of the United States in the South-west Pacific. Based on the results of comprehensive multi-archival research, the book highlights the extent of American-Commonwealth rivalry in the region and following the crisis of late 1941 and early 1942 demonstrates how the reforging of imperial links was shaped by the expansion of American power in Pacific areas south of the equator. It provides an important and timely reassessment of the economic, political and strategic factors that led Britain, Australia and New Zealand to conclude that the postwar affairs of the South-west Pacific should be dominated by the British Empire.
Britain BC (Text Only): Life In Britain And Ireland Before The Romans
by Francis PryorAn authoritative and radical rethinking of the history of Ancient Britain and Ancient Ireland, based on remarkable new archaeological finds.
Britain Before Brexit: Historical Essays on Britain and Europe
by Bernard Porter“Why do the Brexiteers want to leave?” “Why do the Remainers want to stay?” “What exactly would a post-Brexit Europe look like?”These questions have dominated the post- Brexit socio-political landscape. In this timely and engaging book Bernard Porter responds to these questions. Each chapter presents different historical episodes contributing to an overall understanding of what Porter calls Britain's “most important move in her national life since she risked her whole being to go to war with Germany in 1939.” The book comprises a collection of well-researched and considered chapters ranging from Britain's 'asylum' policy for European refugees in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, to 'terrorism' in mainland Britain, and governments responses to it. Porter draws from a range of sources and personal experiences to investigate the cultural and social history that led us (or which specifically didn't lead us) to the decision to leave the European Union. The result is an engaging and personal analysis of Britain's distinctive 'identity', and on its former relations with Europe
Britain Before Brexit: Historical Essays on Britain and Europe
by Bernard Porter“Why do the Brexiteers want to leave?” “Why do the Remainers want to stay?” “What exactly would a post-Brexit Europe look like?”These questions have dominated the post- Brexit socio-political landscape. In this timely and engaging book Bernard Porter responds to these questions. Each chapter presents different historical episodes contributing to an overall understanding of what Porter calls Britain's “most important move in her national life since she risked her whole being to go to war with Germany in 1939.” The book comprises a collection of well-researched and considered chapters ranging from Britain's 'asylum' policy for European refugees in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, to 'terrorism' in mainland Britain, and governments responses to it. Porter draws from a range of sources and personal experiences to investigate the cultural and social history that led us (or which specifically didn't lead us) to the decision to leave the European Union. The result is an engaging and personal analysis of Britain's distinctive 'identity', and on its former relations with Europe
Britain before the Reform Act: Politics and Society 1815-1832
by Eric. J EvansIn the years1815-1832, Britain came close to revolution. Fewer than twenty years separate the Battle of Waterloo from the passing of the ‘Great’ Reform Act but during this period Britain’s political elite was challenged as never before. In rising to that challenge, the political elite attempted, with considerable success, to ensure that Britain engineered that most perilous of transitions, from a less complex and more deferential society into a modern urban and industrial one, while avoding political revolution. In this extensively revised 2nd edition Evans engages with a welter of new material and fresh interpretations. The book sheds light both on the challenges to existing political and social authority and why those challenges were seen off. Evans examines: · The composition of Britain’s political elite and how this elite coped with the problems thrown up by a society urbanising and modernising at an unprecedented rate. · How Britain reacted to the longer-term implications of the French Revolution, including the development of a more cohesive national identity. · How the elite attempted to maintain public order in this period – and with what success. · The extent of change in Britain’s political system brought about by political, religious and administrative reforms Written in accessible style, with a rich collection of documents, chronology, glossary, a guide to further reading,and a ‘Who’s Who’ which summarises the careers and contributions of the main figures, this new edition is essential for all those interested in understanding Britain at this most crucial turning point in its history.
Britain before the Reform Act: Politics and Society 1815-1832
by Eric. J EvansIn the years1815-1832, Britain came close to revolution. Fewer than twenty years separate the Battle of Waterloo from the passing of the ‘Great’ Reform Act but during this period Britain’s political elite was challenged as never before. In rising to that challenge, the political elite attempted, with considerable success, to ensure that Britain engineered that most perilous of transitions, from a less complex and more deferential society into a modern urban and industrial one, while avoding political revolution. In this extensively revised 2nd edition Evans engages with a welter of new material and fresh interpretations. The book sheds light both on the challenges to existing political and social authority and why those challenges were seen off. Evans examines: · The composition of Britain’s political elite and how this elite coped with the problems thrown up by a society urbanising and modernising at an unprecedented rate. · How Britain reacted to the longer-term implications of the French Revolution, including the development of a more cohesive national identity. · How the elite attempted to maintain public order in this period – and with what success. · The extent of change in Britain’s political system brought about by political, religious and administrative reforms Written in accessible style, with a rich collection of documents, chronology, glossary, a guide to further reading,and a ‘Who’s Who’ which summarises the careers and contributions of the main figures, this new edition is essential for all those interested in understanding Britain at this most crucial turning point in its history.
Britain by the Book: A Curious Tour of Our Literary Landscape
by Oliver TearleWhat caused Dickens to leap out of bed one night and walk 30 miles from London to Kent?How did a small town on the Welsh borders become the second-hand bookshop capital of the world?Why did a jellyfish persuade Evelyn Waugh to abandon his suicide attempt in North Wales? A multitude of curious questions are answered in Britain by the Book, a fascinating travelogue with a literary theme, taking in unusual writers' haunts and the surprising places that inspired some of our favourite fictional locations. We'll learn why Thomas Hardy was buried twice, how a librarian in Manchester invented the thesaurus as a means of coping with depression, and why Agatha Christie was investigated by MI5 during the Second World War. The map of Britain that emerges is one dotted with interesting literary stories and bookish curiosities.
Britain, Canada and the North Pacific: Maritime Enterprise and Dominion, 1778–1914 (Variorum Collected Studies)
by Barry M. GoughFrom the time of Cook, the British and their Canadian successors were drawn to the Northwest coast of North America by possibilities of trade in sea otter and the wish to find a 'northwest passage'. The studies collected here trace how, under the influences of the Royal Navy and British statecraft, the British came to dominate the area, with expeditions sent from London, Bombay and Macau, and the Canadian quest from overland. The North West Company came to control the trade of the Columbia River, despite American opposition, and British sloop diplomacy helped overcome Russian and Spanish resistance to British aspirations. Elsewhere in the Americas, the British promoted trans-Pacific trade with China, harvested British Columbia forests, conveyed specie from western Mexico, and established the South America naval station. The flag followed trade and vice versa; empire was both formal (at Vancouver Island) and informal (as in California or Mexico). This book features individuals such as James Cook, William Bolts, Peter Pond, and Sir Alexander Mackenzie. It is also an account of the pressure that corporations placed on the British state in shaping the emerging world of trade and colonization in that distant ocean and its shores, and of the importance of sea-power in the creation of modern Canada.
Britain, Canada and the North Pacific: Maritime Enterprise and Dominion, 1778–1914 (Variorum Collected Studies)
by Barry M. GoughFrom the time of Cook, the British and their Canadian successors were drawn to the Northwest coast of North America by possibilities of trade in sea otter and the wish to find a 'northwest passage'. The studies collected here trace how, under the influences of the Royal Navy and British statecraft, the British came to dominate the area, with expeditions sent from London, Bombay and Macau, and the Canadian quest from overland. The North West Company came to control the trade of the Columbia River, despite American opposition, and British sloop diplomacy helped overcome Russian and Spanish resistance to British aspirations. Elsewhere in the Americas, the British promoted trans-Pacific trade with China, harvested British Columbia forests, conveyed specie from western Mexico, and established the South America naval station. The flag followed trade and vice versa; empire was both formal (at Vancouver Island) and informal (as in California or Mexico). This book features individuals such as James Cook, William Bolts, Peter Pond, and Sir Alexander Mackenzie. It is also an account of the pressure that corporations placed on the British state in shaping the emerging world of trade and colonization in that distant ocean and its shores, and of the importance of sea-power in the creation of modern Canada.
Britain, China, and Colonial Australia (Oxford Historical Monographs)
by Benjamin MountfordTowards the end of the nineteenth century the British Empire was confronted by two great Chinese questions. The first of these questions (often known as the 'Far Eastern question') related specifically to the maintenance of British interests on the China Coast and the broader implications for British foreign policy in East Asia. While safeguarding British interests in the Far East presented British policymakers with a range of significant challenges, as they wrestled with this first Chinese question, another question kept knocking at the door. Since the eighteenth century, when plans for the establishment of a British colony at New South Wales had begun to materialize, Australia's potential relations with China had attracted considerable interest. During the first sixty years of European settlement, China retained a prominent place in both metropolitan and colonial schemes for the development of British Australia. From the 1850s, however, when large numbers of Cantonese miners travelled to the Pacific gold rushes, these earlier visions began to appear hopelessly naive. By the late 1880s the coming of the Chinese to Australia, and the reaction to their arrival, had developed into one of the most difficult issues within British imperial affairs. This book sets out to tell that story. Reaching back to the arrival of the British in the 1780s, it explores the early history of Australian engagement with China and traces the development of colonial Australia into an important point of contact between the British and Chinese Empires.
Britain, China, and Colonial Australia (Oxford Historical Monographs)
by Benjamin MountfordTowards the end of the nineteenth century the British Empire was confronted by two great Chinese questions. The first of these questions (often known as the 'Far Eastern question') related specifically to the maintenance of British interests on the China Coast and the broader implications for British foreign policy in East Asia. While safeguarding British interests in the Far East presented British policymakers with a range of significant challenges, as they wrestled with this first Chinese question, another question kept knocking at the door. Since the eighteenth century, when plans for the establishment of a British colony at New South Wales had begun to materialize, Australia's potential relations with China had attracted considerable interest. During the first sixty years of European settlement, China retained a prominent place in both metropolitan and colonial schemes for the development of British Australia. From the 1850s, however, when large numbers of Cantonese miners travelled to the Pacific gold rushes, these earlier visions began to appear hopelessly naive. By the late 1880s the coming of the Chinese to Australia, and the reaction to their arrival, had developed into one of the most difficult issues within British imperial affairs. This book sets out to tell that story. Reaching back to the arrival of the British in the 1780s, it explores the early history of Australian engagement with China and traces the development of colonial Australia into an important point of contact between the British and Chinese Empires.
Britain, The Commonwealth and Europe: The Commonwealth and Britain's Applications to Join the European Communities
by A. MayBritain's loss of its empire and its 'turn' to Europe are the two most striking features of its foreign policy in the thirty years after 1945. The contributors to this book examine the connection between the two processes. Utilizing a range of sources, the authors challenge conventional interpretations of the connection, and in doing so raise important questions about the nature, motivation, and effects of British policy.
Britain, Egypt, and Iraq during World War II: The Decline of Imperial Power in the Middle East
by Stefanie WichhartThis book explores the tumultuous war years through the lens of the British Embassies in Cairo and Baghdad, demonstrating the role that the Second World War played in shaping the political and social map of the contemporary Middle East. The war served as a catalyst for seismic changes in Arab society and the emergence of new movements that provided powerful critiques of British intervention and of the governments that facilitated it, making the war a critical turning point in Britain's empire in the Middle East.
Britain, Egypt, and Iraq during World War II: The Decline of Imperial Power in the Middle East
by Stefanie WichhartThis book explores the tumultuous war years through the lens of the British Embassies in Cairo and Baghdad, demonstrating the role that the Second World War played in shaping the political and social map of the contemporary Middle East. The war served as a catalyst for seismic changes in Arab society and the emergence of new movements that provided powerful critiques of British intervention and of the governments that facilitated it, making the war a critical turning point in Britain's empire in the Middle East.
Britain, The Empire, And The World At The Great Exhibition Of 1851
by Peter H. Hoffenberg Jeffrey A. AuerbachBritain, the Empire, and the World at the Great Exhibition is the first book to situate the Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1851 in a truly global context. Addressing national, imperial, and international themes, this collection of essays considers the significance of the Exhibition both for its British hosts and their relationships to the wider world, and for participants from around the globe. How did the Exhibition connect London, England, important British colonies, and significant participating nation-states including Russia, Greece, Germany and the Ottoman Empire? How might we think about the exhibits, visitors and organizers in light of what the Exhibition suggested about Britain’s place in the global community? Contributors from various academic disciplines answer these and other questions by focusing on the many exhibits, publications, visitors and organizers in Britain and elsewhere. The essays expand our understanding of the meanings, roles and legacies of the Great Exhibition for British society and the wider world, as well as the ways that this pivotal event shaped Britain’s and other participating nations’ conceptions of and locations within the wider nineteenth-century world.
Britain, The Empire, and The World at The Great Exhibition of 1851: (PDF)
by Peter H. Hoffenberg Jeffrey A. AuerbachBritain, the Empire, and the World at the Great Exhibition is the first book to situate the Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1851 in a truly global context. Addressing national, imperial, and international themes, this collection of essays considers the significance of the Exhibition both for its British hosts and their relationships to the wider world, and for participants from around the globe. How did the Exhibition connect London, England, important British colonies, and significant participating nation-states including Russia, Greece, Germany and the Ottoman Empire? How might we think about the exhibits, visitors and organizers in light of what the Exhibition suggested about Britain’s place in the global community? Contributors from various academic disciplines answer these and other questions by focusing on the many exhibits, publications, visitors and organizers in Britain and elsewhere. The essays expand our understanding of the meanings, roles and legacies of the Great Exhibition for British society and the wider world, as well as the ways that this pivotal event shaped Britain’s and other participating nations’ conceptions of and locations within the wider nineteenth-century world.
Britain, Europe and Civil Nuclear Energy, 1945–62
by Martin TheakerThis book examines the role played by civil nuclear energy in Britain’s relationship with Europe between the end of the Second World War and London’s first application to join the European Communities. Tracing the development of the British nuclear programme as it emerged as a global leader in constructing the world’s first atomic power stations, it analyses how the threat of energy shortages throughout the 1950s presented ministers with a golden opportunity to utilise nuclear cooperation as an instrument to influence the political shape of Europe. Importantly, this book will show how this chance was missed by ministers due to a combination of disorganization and diplomatic pressure, as well as a perennial lack of domestic resources. In so doing, this book joins the long-disconnected historiographies of European integration and nuclear energy to offer a new perspective on both scholarly fields.
Britain, Europe and the World 1850-1986: Delusions of Grandeur (Routledge Revivals)
by Bernard PorterFirst published in 1983, Britain, Europe and the World 1850-1986 examines the history of Britain’s international situation and foreign policy in relation to her domestic circumstances from the middle of the nineteenth century to the late twentieth century to provide answers to the following questions, among others: What did it mean for Britain to be ‘a great power’ in the nineteenth century? Why is she no longer one? Could anything have been done to prevent her ‘decline’? It is an unusual interpretation, undermining many of the most pervasive present-day myths about Britain’s past. Some of its conclusions will be unexpected. The reissue contains a new preface in which the author brings the reader up to date with the changes Britain has gone through since the book was first published. It has been written for students of British history and diplomacy at all levels, and for anyone interested in finding out why the British have come to be where they find themselves now.
Britain, Europe and the World 1850-1986: Delusions of Grandeur (Routledge Revivals)
by Bernard PorterFirst published in 1983, Britain, Europe and the World 1850-1986 examines the history of Britain’s international situation and foreign policy in relation to her domestic circumstances from the middle of the nineteenth century to the late twentieth century to provide answers to the following questions, among others: What did it mean for Britain to be ‘a great power’ in the nineteenth century? Why is she no longer one? Could anything have been done to prevent her ‘decline’? It is an unusual interpretation, undermining many of the most pervasive present-day myths about Britain’s past. Some of its conclusions will be unexpected. The reissue contains a new preface in which the author brings the reader up to date with the changes Britain has gone through since the book was first published. It has been written for students of British history and diplomacy at all levels, and for anyone interested in finding out why the British have come to be where they find themselves now.
Britain, France and Europe, 1945-1975: The Elusive Alliance
by Anthony AdamthwaiteBritain, France and Europe, 1945-1975 takes a fresh look at the international trajectories of Europe's premier democracies. The side-lining of Britain and France in the Cold War era, argues Adamthwaite, was preventable. A Franco-British Europe came within a whisker of realization. Condemning President Charles de Gaulle as an intransigent gatekeeper created a convenient alibi for self-inflicted missteps. UK bids for European Community membership ignored the elephant in the room - the need for partnership in a superpower age. A marriage powering the Community could have repositioned Western Europe as partner, not client of the United States. Although perceived as a failing power, France outperformed Britain - seizing the initiative in European construction, and winning primacy in western Europe. As well as exploring sharply contrasting national experiences in the aftermath of war, the author analyses the reasons for French success. The analysis evaluates key influences: the mental maps of decision makers; leadership styles; the post-1945 international system; policy making machinery; the 'democratic deficit' in British and French politics; and public opinion.Drawing on American, British and French official records, together with private papers and interviews, this enlightening study highlights the importance of contingency and individual actors, and will be of great interest to scholars of modern European history.
Britain, France and Europe, 1945-1975: The Elusive Alliance
by Anthony AdamthwaiteBritain, France and Europe, 1945-1975 takes a fresh look at the international trajectories of Europe's premier democracies. The side-lining of Britain and France in the Cold War era, argues Adamthwaite, was preventable. A Franco-British Europe came within a whisker of realization. Condemning President Charles de Gaulle as an intransigent gatekeeper created a convenient alibi for self-inflicted missteps. UK bids for European Community membership ignored the elephant in the room - the need for partnership in a superpower age. A marriage powering the Community could have repositioned Western Europe as partner, not client of the United States. Although perceived as a failing power, France outperformed Britain - seizing the initiative in European construction, and winning primacy in western Europe. As well as exploring sharply contrasting national experiences in the aftermath of war, the author analyses the reasons for French success. The analysis evaluates key influences: the mental maps of decision makers; leadership styles; the post-1945 international system; policy making machinery; the 'democratic deficit' in British and French politics; and public opinion.Drawing on American, British and French official records, together with private papers and interviews, this enlightening study highlights the importance of contingency and individual actors, and will be of great interest to scholars of modern European history.
Britain, France and the Battle for the Leadership of Europe, 1957-2007 (Routledge Studies in Modern European History)
by Richard DavisThe book gives an account of an essential part of Britain’s troubled relationship with the rest of Europe after 1945 – particularly considering the rivalry of France and Britain between 1945 and 2007. The record of Britain’s relations with the rest of Europe, and in particular with France, from 1945 onwards was seen by the politicians and diplomats in charge of foreign policy very much in terms of a diplomatic battle. This is paradoxical given that European integration was supposedly aiming to create a European community. Although Britain has usually been seen as an at-best half-hearted participant in European integration, it nonetheless maintained its ambition to assume the leadership of Europe. This inevitably led to a confrontation with France which shared the same goal. This book begins by looking at the opposing ways in which these two ancient European rivals presented very different models for the sort of Europe they wished to see emerge. It goes on to consider the record of their rivalry between 1945 and 2007. After this, Britain effectively gave up the battle for the political leadership of Europe. This, however, should not obscure the fact that it had succeeded in imposing many of its social and economic models on Europe. This volume will be of interest to both undergraduate students and general readers interested in Britain’s position in Europe.