Change makes people restless The radical thinkers of the 18th century offered tantalising visions of a more just society.  Their ideas greatly influenced the French and American revolutions, which produced two of the world’s great republican democracies.  In Britain, the loss of the American colonies was largely accepted with a sense of detached interest, and

The invention of modern cities and the start of consumerism Britain was the world’s first industrial nation.  During the 18th and 19th centuries, a complex series of interdependent factors spontaneously combined over a similar timeframe, which progressively and profoundly altered society, and the environment. They set in motion the Britain of the future: no longer

Britain helps create several of the world’s great nations Whilst Britain was busy building its global power in the 18th century, it very carelessly managed to lose 13 British colonies on the east coast of mainland North America.  The colonies were pretty much self-governing, with white populations of mostly independent-minded farmers that were overwhelmingly British

Britain reaches out… Of course, every country is the product of its past.  The reminders of Britain’s past – memorials, buildings, institutions, even entire countries – are all around, yet their history is not always recognised; and some of that might make some people feel a little uncomfortable if viewed out of context, and judged