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History of England 1-6

Yeats, W. B.: ‘Easter, 1916’, ref1

Yeo, Tim, ref1

York, Duke and Duchess of, ref1

Zeppelins, ref1, ref2

1. Edward VII. He was the eldest son of Queen Victoria and was considered to be the most popular monarch since Charles II.

2. King George at the opening of the Festival of Empire at the Crystal Palace in 1911.

3. A tram in Yarmouth. It was the cheapest form of travel, even along the seashore.

4. The Boy Scouts in 1909. By the following year, there were over 100,000 of them.

5. Emmeline Pankhurst in 1914. One of the first suffragettes, who also established the Women’s Social and Political Union.

6. Herbert Henry Asquith, prime minister from 1908 to 1916. He was also known as ‘Squiffy’ because of his habit of over-drinking.

7. David Lloyd George, prime minister from 1916 to 1922. His passion for social reform was matched only by his energy and ambition.

8. The British Empire Exhibition, 1924. A vast and expensive propaganda exercise to promote the unity of Britain and its dominions.

9. Flappers in 1925: young women determined to dance and drink away the memories of wartime Britain.

10. The General Strike of 1926. It heightened the sense of revolution hanging over the country.

11. A Butlin’s poster from the 1930s. The first ever commercial holiday camp was established at Skegness in 1936.

12. Members of the Bloomsbury Group in 1928, a set of writers and artists who fostered radical innovation in the post-war world. From left to right : Frances Partridge, Quentin and Julian Bell, Duncan Grant, Clive Bell and Beatrice Mayor; kneeling: Roger Fry; sitting: Raymond Mortimer.

13. Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator, a 1940 film in which he parodied Adolf Hitler.

14. George VI on the day of his coronation, 12 May 1937. He was a reluctant king, who nevertheless fulfilled his duties as monarch in war and peace.

15. Winston Churchill in 1940. Implacable and strong-willed, he guided his country to victory in 1945.

16. The Empire Windrush in 1948. Passengers from the West Indies disembarking in Tilbury.

17. The birth of the National Health Service. Guided by Nye Bevan, it came into operation on Monday, 5 July 1948.

18. Rationing in 1949. The long lines proclaim that, even four years after the war, tea, sugar and eggs were still in short supply.

19. The coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953. She was to become the longest reigning monarch in English history.

20. The Suez Canal in October 1956. The newspaper headlines emphasize the significance of what turned out to be a British disaster.

21. Harold Wilson, in October 1964, entering Downing Street after his election victory. The defeated Conservatives had been in power for thirteen years.

22. A scene outside the Royal Court in June 1956. It marked the premiere of John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger.

23. Mary Quant in April 1964. She became known as ‘the queen of fashion’ in a fashion-conscious era.

24. The 1966 World Cup final. The victory of England in the final was perhaps the summit of the country’s sporting achievement.

25. The Beatles in August 1966. The four members of the group were at the pinnacle of their success, but the tour of 1966 was their last.

26. The queen watching television in 1969. A relaxed family scene, suggesting that the royal family was becoming more ‘open’ to the public.

27. A British family watching television in the 1970s. The ‘box’ was now essential and ubiquitous.

28. The three-day week, 1973, imposed by Edward Heath at the end of that year to minimize the use of electricity.

29. The miners’ strike of 1984. Arthur Scargill, president of the National Union of Mineworkers, confronts the police.

30. Margaret Thatcher, prime minister, in 1986. She had already gained recognition as the Iron Lady.

31. Princess Diana being interviewed in November 1995 about her life apart from the royal family, which led to her divorce from the Prince of Wales.

32. Tony Blair, on the day after the election of 1 May 1997, when he defeated John Major and the Conservatives.

33. The Millennium Dome, now known as the O2 Arena for music and entertainment.

About the Author

Peter Ackroyd is an award-winning novelist, as well as a broadcaster, biographer, poet and historian. He is the author of the acclaimed non-fiction bestsellers Thames: Sacred River and London: The Biography. He holds a CBE for services to literature and lives in London.

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

Non-Fiction

The History of England Vol. I: Foundation

The History of England Vol. II: Tudors

The History of England Vol. III: Civil War

The History of England Vol. IV: Revolution

The History of England Vol. V: Dominion

London: The Biography

Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination

The Collection: Journalism, Reviews, Essays, Short Stories

Lectures Edited by Thomas Wright

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