Britain

Boris Johnson's Abuse of Churchill

In using Churchill to justify his Brexit campaign, Boris Johnson 'paints a barbarically simplified and ill-informed picture of what Churchill stood for'.

Secrets Made Public

Andrew Lycett uncovers the intriguing, labyrinthine paths to publication of the histories of MI5, MI6, GCHQ and the Special Operations Executive.

Corruption and Anti-Corruption in Britain

We may know it when we see it, but corruption is not a fixed concept. Mark Knights explains how 300 years of scandal have forged perceptions of what is – and what is not – corrupt. 

Is it British to Weep?

The reputation of Britons as a people who tightly control their emotions in the face of adversity is not necessarily a deserved one, argues Thomas Dixon.

Cops and Dockers

Britons like to think that they all pulled together during the Second World War, but as Clive Emsley shows, some of the work force, in particular those employed in the nation’s ports, were just as likely to be pulling a fast one.

The Particular and the Personal

Virginia Nicholson acknowledges the debt she owes as a popular historian to academics such as Roland Quinault, whose 2001 essay on Britain in the 1950s remains a rich source of information.

Indians in Britain during the First World War

The people of Brighton offered a warm welcome to the Indian soldiers sent to convalesce at the Sussex resort in the First World War. But the military authorities found much to be nervous about.

The United Kingdom: Four nations or one?

Can the UK’s politicians offer lasting, inclusive solutions to the constitutional fall-out from last year’s referendum on Scottish independence? The historical precedents are not encouraging.