'Do histories of Britain inevitably have to be histories of England? This is exactly where Jeremy Black comes into his own, for he delivers the history of the archipelago which he promises...the perspective of the work is wider and fuller than that of any other recent history. Black's work is also remarkable for the sense which it conveys of the power of broad social and cultural change.' - Times Educational Supplement Jeremy Black has written a vigorous and fascinating narrative of a group of rather desolate offshore islands and their remarkable impact upon the rest of the world. From the earliest pre-history to the 1990s, this stirring account describes the astonishingly varied stages through which the British Isles have passed to achieve their present identity.