ROSE AND CROWN

A small, wet, crowded island spent several hundred years running a quarter of the world - then lost nearly all of it again within a single human lifetime. This book asks how, and picks up almost exactly where this series' Viking history left off: 1066, a Norman conquest, and eight centuries still to go.

ROSE AND CROWN tells that story fast: thirteen turning points, eight centuries, one kingdom whose actual resources never remotely matched the power it eventually wielded. A king cornered in a field and forced to sign away his own authority. A queen who told her troops she had "the heart and stomach of a king." A revolution so quick and so bloodless its own supporters called it glorious. An empire that lost America and, within a generation, built an even bigger one somewhere else.

Written with the pace and voice of a great storyteller rather than a textbook, this is British history for readers who want the real story - accurate, vivid, and built to move - without wading through a thousand pages of monarchs and regnal numbers to get it. The book covers Britain's colonial record honestly rather than as a footnote to national pride, and addresses Brexit and devolution factually, without taking sides on questions still being actively argued over today.

Inside you'll find:
- The thirteen defining turning points of British history, from Magna Carta to Brexit
- Seven deeper-dive chapters: medieval and Tudor life, the invention of Parliament, the women who changed the kingdom, the Industrial Revolution, the law and language Britain exported, the Royal Navy, and Britain's lasting global footprint
- A cast of characters, a quick-reference timeline, and a glossary

Whether you're new to this history or already know your Magna Carta from your Glorious Revolution, ROSE AND CROWN moves at a pace that respects your time.