Small Island

A fascinating analysis of a dozen maps selected from critical points in the last two thousand years of British history. With the uncertainty of Brexit looming, Britain as we know it is on the brink of defining change. With current borders being disputed and, with them, identities challenged, this book will provide a brilliant insight into how our country's borders have always been, and always will be, in a state of change. From the Celtic period when 'Britain' was just a patchwork of tribal kingdoms; to the height of the empire a century ago, when the whole of Ireland, India, Australia, much of Africa, Asia and the Americas were marked as British; through to the present-day when Britain's shape and extent is once more in question, these maps dramatically chart the political and cultural evolution of the nation. By focusing on these maps Philip Parker reveals how Britain came to be the way it is today, and how the past is a guide to where we might go from here.