The ENTIRE History of Britain: How a Conquered Island Ruled a Quarter of the World

The entire history of Britain (England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland), from Doggerland to today. Over a thousand years it was invaded and taken again and again: by the Romans, the Saxons, the Danes and the Normans. Then it built the biggest empire in history. How? This history of Britain and history of England follows how a small, often-invaded island became a superpower: Doggerland and Stonehenge, Claudius and his war elephants, Roman Londinium and Boudica, the Anglo-Saxons and Alfred the Great, the Vikings and Cnut, 1066 and the Domesday Book, Wales, Scotland and Bannockburn, the Black Death, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and the Armada, the union of the crowns, the Civil War, the Glorious Revolution and the Bank of England, the 1707 union, the Seven Years' War, the East India Company and Plassey, slavery and abolition, the Industrial Revolution, Trafalgar, the British Empire at its largest, the World Wars and the Battle of Britain, the end of empire, and Britain today. This is the whole island, not just England. Wales: Caratacus, Llywelyn and Edward I's castles, and why Wales isn't on the flag. Scotland: Hadrian's Wall, Bannockburn, the Stone of Destiny, a Scottish king taking England's crown in 1603, Darien, the 1707 union and the 2014 vote. Ireland: the Normans, the 1801 union, the Great Famine and independence in 1922. Every conqueror left something behind, and Britain put all of it to work. Chapters 0:00 Cold open: Claudius and the elephants 1:37 The big questions 2:51 Deep origins: Doggerland and Stonehenge 4:34 Romans and Saxons 6:42 The Danes 8:32 The Normans, Wales, Scotland and the Black Death 11:11 The Tudors, the Armada and a Scottish king for England 13:43 The Bank of England and the union with Scotland 16:12 The rise of the British Empire 21:28 The fall, and Ireland leaves 24:07 Britain today 25:21 The answer 26:42 Outro