From the earliest pre-history to 2002, Jeremy Black's narrative explores the rich historical influences on the British Isles and the varied stages through which they have passed to achieve their present identity. Giving proper weight to all four, often fractious, components of the British Isles, Black provides the reader with a balanced account - political, social, economic and cultural - of an extraordinary shared history. In the second edition of this text, each chapter has been thoroughly revised and updated in the light of recent scholarship.