Portrait of Britain

Jeremy Black continues our Portrait of Britain series describing the impact of the French Wars on the islands and the shifting landscape wrought by the Industrial Revolution.

Allan Macinnes investigates the state of the islands at a crucial moment in British state formation.

John Miller describes the state of the British kingdoms as James Stewart waits to become monarch of the entire archipelago.

Steven Gunn looks at the condition of Britain at the beginning of the Tudor era, and finds a society that was increasingly cohesive, confident and cosmopolitan.

Nigel Saul tells how, in spite of famines and visitations of the plague, conditions were better than ever before for those living in 1400.

Bruce Campbell argues that a unique conjunction of human and environmental factors went into creating the crisis of the mid-14th century.

Ann Williams describes the state of the island at a time when Anglo-Saxon culture was reaching its peak, while also politically challenged by the Vikings.

David Braund re-examines what we know about Britain at the time of the Roman invasions.