'A reference book that will see every history student through school and university' (Lucy Moore, New Statesman)



Despite suffering at the hands of invading Romans, Anglo-Saxons, and Normans, and tyrannical kings and queens, Britons have been renowned since Queen Boudicca for their fierce commitment to the liberty of the individual. Britain's seven-hundred-year-old parliamentary democracy has developed from a passion for fairness and the rule of law. In an atmospheric and vivid narrative Rebecca Fraser takes listeners through key events in the nation's history, from Alfred and the Danes to the Norman Conquest, from Magna Carta to the founding of English America, from the Industrial Revolution and the Empire to the Commonwealth today. The listener is introduced to the lives of the far-sighted statesmen and women, heroes and villains, scientists, soldiers, and great explorers, whose ideas have informed the colorful tapestry which is the story of Britain.