Stuart Laycock

Describes consequences of British invasions and occupations of countries throughout history.

And the Few We Never Got Round To

All the Countries We've Ever Invaded

Christopher Gidlow

England today is a rich, complex mix of identities, cultures, and heritages. However, in the decades after Roman Britain collapsed in the fifth century, the cultures of the Angles and of the Saxons, with significant degrees of homogeneity, spread rapidly westwards across much of eastern, southern and central England. Then it stopped. Or was stopped. For the area then still beyond Anglo-Saxon reach is characterized by a network of military and economic links across the island. Perhaps significantly, this includes parts of Britain traditionally associated with King Arthur. Later, the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural kingdom of Mercia, in alliance with British kingdoms in Wales, spread from the Midlands across England under the mysterious King Penda, dominating the earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms with its wealth and military power. The region that gave birth to Mercia is also a region that was a most likely base for the elusive figure of King Arthur. The authors use historical and archaeological evidence, much of it new, to explore the link between Arthur’s kingdom and the rise of Penda’s Mercia. They seek to locate lost Arthurian battlefields and understand what happened there, with exciting, new results. This is the story of one region, two kings and two centuries that changed England forever.

One Land, Two Kings and Two Centuries that Changed Britain Forever

King Arthur's Country

Philip Laycock

Did you know? • The first African community to arrive in England was stationed at Aballava on Hadrian's Wall to keep out the Picts. • Admiral Robert FitzRoy, creator of the Met Office, was so upset by criticism of his weather forecasts that he shot himself. • While studying at Cambridge, Charles Darwin formed the 'Glutton Club' for the purpose of eating unusual animals. • Ada Lovelace wrote a computer code in the nineteenth century, before a working computer had even been invented. • Maids of Honour at Henry VIII's court were given eight pints of ale per day and his army mutinied in Spain when the ale ran out. A little book about a BIG subject. England's not huge in land mass, but there is a lot to say about this little country. Yes, we'll be touching on the obvious bits – Shakespeare, 1966, disappointing weather, etc., but we'll also be going in search of what's under the surface of English history, society and culture. What is it that makes England England? People all over the world think they know the answer to that: the King or Queen, awkward politeness, Beefeaters and losing in penalties in international football. But we English know that we're a bit more complicated than such stereotypes. Or are we? Let's find out.

The Little Book of England

Chris West

Pick up an old stamp album and flick through it. You’ll find a host of exotic and unfamiliar names: Cyrenaica, Fernando Poo, Fiume, North Ingria, Obock, Priamur, Stellaland, Tuva, Wenden – distant lands, vanished territories, lost countries. Do they still exist? If not, where were they? What happened to them? Lost Countries goes in search of the truth about these and many other amazing places. Stuart Laycock and Chris West unearth stories of many kinds. Some take you to long-disappeared empires; others throw light on today’s most pressing conflicts. Lost Countries invites you to enjoy them all, in a collection of historical narratives as broad and enticing as an old stamp album that you’ve just discovered in the attic.

Exotic Tales from an Old Stamp Album

Lost Countries

Attempts to understand how Roman Britain ends and Anglo-Saxon England begins have been undermined by the division of studies into pre-Roman, Roman and early medieval periods. This groundbreaking new study traces the history of British tribes and British tribal rivalries from the pre-Roman period, through the Roman period and into the post-Roman period. It shows how tribal conflict was central to the arrival of Roman power in Britain and how tribal identities persisted through the Roman period and were a factor in three great convulsions that struck Britain during the Roman centuries. It explores how tribal conflicts may have played a major role in the end of Roman Britain, creating a 'failed state' scenario akin in some ways to those seen recently in Bosnia and Iraq, and brought about the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons. Finally, it considers how British tribal territories and British tribal conflicts can be understood as the direct predecessors of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and Anglo-Saxon conflicts that form the basis of early English History.

Tribal Conflicts and the End of Roman Britain

Britannia: The Failed State

Andrew Appels

Roman Buckles and Military Fittings

Christopher Kelly

The controversial story of American invasions throughout history - how the world's superpower came to be what it is today.

All the Countries the Americans Have Ever Invaded

America has invaded 43% of the countries in the world, and it has been militarily involved with nearly all the rest. This book offers a global tour of America's military activity, arranged by country, relating a history of gallantry and sacrifice as America has spread its power and influence worldwide.--Publisher.

How We've Invaded Or Been Militarily Involved with Almost Every Country on Earth

America Invades

Miles Russell

When we think of Roman Britain we tend to think of a land of togas and richly decorated palaces with Britons happily going about their much improved daily business under the benign gaze of Rome. This image is to a great extent a fiction. In fact, Britons were some of the least enthusiastic members of the Roman Empire. A few adopted roman ways to curry favour with the invaders. A lot never adopted a Roman lifestyle at all and remained unimpressed and riven by deep-seated tribal division. It wasn't until the late third/early fourth century that a small minority of landowners grew fat on the benefits of trade and enjoyed the kind of lifestyle we have been taught to associate with period. Britannia was a far-away province which, whilst useful for some major economic reserves, fast became a costly and troublesome concern for Rome, much like Iraq for the British government today. Huge efforts by the state to control the hearts and minds of the Britons were met with at worst hostile resistance and rebellion, and at best by steadfast indifference. The end of the Roman Empire largely came as 'business as usual' for the vast majority of Britons as they simply hadn't adopted the Roman way of life in the first place.

Stuart Laycock

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