The history of the British Isles has witnessed intermittent periods of competition and cooperation between the people that occupy the various parts of Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, and the smaller adjacent islands, which together make up the British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

, as well as with France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, the Low Countries

Low Countries

The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....

, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, Scandinavia

Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...

, etc.

Today, the British Isles contain two sovereign states: the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 and the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. There are also three Crown dependencies: Guernsey

Guernsey

Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...

, Jersey

Jersey

Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...

 and the Isle of Man

Isle of Man

The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...

. The United Kingdom may be further broken down into the four countries of the United Kingdom

Countries of the United Kingdom

Countries of the United Kingdom is a term used to describe England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. These four countries together form the sovereign state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which is also described as a country. The alternative terms, constituent...

: England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, and Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. Each of these countries bears its own history, with all but Northern Ireland having been independent

Independence

Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....

 states at one point. The History of the formation of the United Kingdom

History of the formation of the United Kingdom

The history of the formation of the United Kingdom has involved personal and political union across Great Britain and the wider British Isles. The United Kingdom is the most recent of a number of sovereign states that have been established in Great Britain at different periods in history, in...

 is very complex.

The British monarch was head of state

Head of State

A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...

 of all of the countries of the British Isles from the Union of the Crowns

Union of the Crowns

The Union of the Crowns was the accession of James VI, King of Scots, to the throne of England, and the consequential unification of Scotland and England under one monarch. The Union of Crowns followed the death of James' unmarried and childless first cousin twice removed, Queen Elizabeth I of...

 in 1603 until the enactment of the Republic of Ireland Act

Republic of Ireland Act

The Republic of Ireland Act 1948 is an Act of the Oireachtas which declared the Irish state to be a republic, and vested in the President of Ireland the power to exercise the executive authority of the state in its external relations, on the advice of the Government of Ireland...

 in 1949, although the term "British Isles" was not used in 1603. Additionally, since the independence of Ireland, historians of the region often avoid the term British Isles due to the complexity of relations between the peoples of the archipelago

Archipelago

An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...

 (see: Terminology of the British Isles).

Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Periods

The Palaeolithic and Mesolithic, also known as the Old and Middle Stone Ages, were characterised by a hunter-gatherer

Hunter-gatherer

A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...

 economy and a reliance on stone tool technologies.

Lower Palaeolithic

The Lower Palaeolithic period in Britain saw its first inhabitation by early hominins.

One of the most prominent archaeological sites dating to this period is that of Boxgrove Quarry

Boxgrove Quarry

Boxgrove Quarry is a gravel quarry and Lower Palaeolithic archaeological site at Boxgrove in the British-English county of West Sussex. It has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest...

 in West Sussex, southern England.

Mesolithic

By the Mesolithic, homo sapiens, or modern humans, were the only hominin species to still survive in the British Isles.

Neolithic and Bronze Ages

In the British Isles, the Neolithic and Bronze Ages saw the transformation of British and Irish society and landscape. It saw the adoption of agriculture, as communities gave up their hunter-gatherer modes of existence to begin farming.

Iron Age

As its name suggests, the British Iron Age is also characterised by the adoption of iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

, a metal which was used to produce a variety of different tools, ornaments and weapons.

Roman Britain

From 40 CE through to c.410 CE, southern Britain was a part of the Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

, with archaeologists referring to this area as "Roman Britain", and this time span the "Romano-British period" or the "Roman Iron Age".

Late Mediaeval

In 1066, William, Duke of Normandy invaded England, claiming that he was the rightful heir to the throne, and successfully defeated King Harold II

Harold II

Harald II may refer to:* Harald II of Norway * Harald II of Denmark * Harold II of England , a.k.a. Harold Godwinson* Harald Maddadsson, Earl of Orkney and Mormaer of Caithness...

 at the Battle of Hastings

Battle of Hastings

The Battle of Hastings occurred on 14 October 1066 during the Norman conquest of England, between the Norman-French army of Duke William II of Normandy and the English army under King Harold II...

. Proclaiming himself to be King William I, he set about solidifying his regime by appointing Normans to many of the positions of high authority, building a system of castles across the country and ordering a census of his new kingdom, the Doomsday Book.

1900-1950

In 1922, the Irish Home Rule movement finally succeeded in its goals, and the U.K. government accepted the secession of the southern part of Ireland as an independent state.

As World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 broke out across Europe in 1939, the U.K. joined the Allied forces in opposition to the Axis forces of Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 and Fascist Italy

Fascist Italy

"Fascist Italy" refers to Italy under the rule of Benito Mussolini and Italian Fascism. The Fascists led two polities:*The Kingdom of Italy , under the National Fascist Party, and,...

, whilst the Republic of Ireland instead remained nuetral throughout the conflict. At the war's end in 1945, the U.K. emerged as one of the victorious nations.

1950-1999

Domestically, the 1960s onward saw a liberalisation of social attitudes in both the Irish Republic and the U.K., with the rise of movements such as second wave feminism and LGBT rights. Politically, the U.K. was dominated by the centre-left Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

, who enacted a number of social democratic

Social democracy

Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...

 reforms, such as the implementation of the National Health Service

National Health Service

The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...

, and the right-centre right Conservative Party

Conservative Party

-Africa:*Conservative Party *Conservative Party *Conservative Party -Europe:*Conservative Party *Conservative Party of Armenia *Conservative Party *Conservative Party...

.

On the international stage, the second half of the 20th century was dominated by the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

 between the Soviet Union and its socialist allies and the United States and its capitalist allies; the U.K. was a key supporter of the latter, joining the anti-Soviet miltiary alliance NATO in 1949. During this period, the U.K. became involved in several Cold War conflicts, such as the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

 (1950-1953), as well as unrelated conflicts such as the Falklands War

Falklands War

The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...

 (1982). In contrast, the Republic of Ireland remained nuetral and avoided involvment in any foreign wars during this period.

2000-present

In the 21st century, the U.K. became the core supporter of the U.S. in their "War on Terror

War on Terror

The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...

" against Islamic nations that were perceived as a threat to western states, acting as key players in the War in Afghanistan (2001-), the Iraq War (2003-) and the Libyan Civil War

2011 military intervention in Libya

On 19 March 2011, a multi-state coalition began a military intervention in Libya to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, which was taken in response to events during the 2011 Libyan civil war...

 (2011).

Both the U.K. and the Irish Republic were affected by the global recession.

Periods

• Prehistoric Britain
  Prehistoric Britain
  For the purposes of this article, Prehistoric Britain is that period of time between the first arrival of humans on the land mass now known as Great Britain and the start of recorded British history...
  
   (Prehistory–AD 43)
  • Prehistoric Scotland
    Prehistoric Scotland
    Archaeology and geology continue to reveal the secrets of prehistoric Scotland, uncovering a complex and dramatic past before the Romans brought Scotland into the scope of recorded history...
    
    
  • Prehistoric Wales
    Prehistoric Wales
    Prehistoric Wales in terms of human settlements covers the period from about 230,000 years ago, the date attributed to the earliest human remains found in what is now Wales, to the year 48 AD when the Roman army began a military campaign against one of the Welsh tribes...
    
    
• Roman Britain
  Roman Britain
  Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
  
   (44–407)
• Sub-Roman Britain
  Sub-Roman Britain
  Sub-Roman Britain is a term derived from an archaeological label for the material culture of Britain in Late Antiquity: the term "Sub-Roman" was invented to describe the potsherds in sites of the 5th century and the 6th century, initially with an implication of decay of locally-made wares from a...
  
   (407–597)
• Britain in the Middle Ages (597-1485)
  • Anglo-Saxon England (597–1066)
  • Norman Conquest of England
    Norman conquest of England
    The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
    
     (1066)
  • Scotland in the High Middle Ages
    Scotland in the High Middle Ages
    The High Middle Ages of Scotland encompass Scotland in the era between the death of Domnall II in 900 AD and the death of king Alexander III in 1286...
    
     (900-1286)
  • Scotland in the Late Middle Ages
    Scotland in the Late Middle Ages
    Scotland in the late Middle Ages established its independence from England under figures including William Wallace in the late 13th century and Robert Bruce in the 14th century...
    
     (1286–1513)
    • Wars of Scottish Independence
      Wars of Scottish Independence
      The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the independent Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries....
      
       (1296–1357)
• Early modern Britain
  Early Modern Britain
  Early modern Britain is the history of the island of Great Britain, roughly corresponding to the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Major historical events in Early Modern British history include the English Renaissance, the English Reformation and Scottish Reformation, the English Civil War, the...
  
  
  • Tudor period
    Tudor period
    The Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII...
    
     (1485–1603)
    • Tudor conquest of Ireland
    • English Renaissance
      English Renaissance
      The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England dating from the late 15th and early 16th centuries to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that is usually regarded as beginning in Italy in the late 14th century; like most of northern...
      
      
    • Elizabethan era
      Elizabethan era
      The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign . Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history...
      
       (1558–1603)
  • First British Empire (1583–1783)
  • Jacobean era
    Jacobean era
    The Jacobean era refers to the period in English and Scottish history that coincides with the reign of King James VI of Scotland, who also inherited the crown of England in 1603 as James I...
    
     (1567–1625)
  • Union of the Crowns
    Union of the Crowns
    The Union of the Crowns was the accession of James VI, King of Scots, to the throne of England, and the consequential unification of Scotland and England under one monarch. The Union of Crowns followed the death of James' unmarried and childless first cousin twice removed, Queen Elizabeth I of...
    
     (1603)
  • Caroline era
    Caroline era
    The Caroline era refers to the era in English and Scottish history during the Stuart period that coincided with the reign of Charles I , Carolus being Latin for Charles...
    
     (1625–1642)
  • English Civil War
    English Civil War
    The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
    
     (1642–1651)
  • English Interregnum
    English Interregnum
    The English Interregnum was the period of parliamentary and military rule by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the Commonwealth of England after the English Civil War...
    
     (1651–1660)
  • Restoration
    English Restoration
    The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
    
     (1660)
  • Glorious Revolution
    Glorious Revolution
    The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
    
     (1688)
  • Scottish Enlightenment
    Scottish Enlightenment
    The Scottish Enlightenment was the period in 18th century Scotland characterised by an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. By 1750, Scots were among the most literate citizens of Europe, with an estimated 75% level of literacy...
    
    
  • Kingdom of Great Britain
    Kingdom of Great Britain
    The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
    
     (1707–1800)
  • Second British Empire (1783–1815)
  • Georgian era
    Georgian era
    The Georgian era is a period of British history which takes its name from, and is normally defined as spanning the reigns of, the first four Hanoverian kings of Great Britain : George I, George II, George III and George IV...
    
    
• History of the United Kingdom
  History of the United Kingdom
  The history of the United Kingdom as a unified sovereign state began with the political union of the kingdoms of England, which included Wales, and Scotland on 1 May 1707 in accordance with the Treaty of Union, as ratified by the Acts of Union 1707...
  
   (1801- )
  • United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
    United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
    
     (1801–1922)
    • Britain's Imperial Century (1815–1914)
    • Regency (1811–1820)
    • Victorian era
      Victorian era
      The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
      
       (1837–1901)
    • Edwardian period
      Edwardian period
      The Edwardian era or Edwardian period in the United Kingdom is the period covering the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910.The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 and the succession of her son Edward marked the end of the Victorian era...
      
       (1901–1910)
    • Britain in World War I (1914–1918)
    • Coalition Government 1916–1922
  • United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
    United Kingdom
    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
    
     (1922 - )
    • Conservative Government 1922–1924
    • Conservative Government 1924–1929
    • Labour Government 1929–1931
    • National Government 1931–1935
    • National Government 1935–1940
    • Britain in World War II
      Military history of the United Kingdom during World War II
      Britain along with most of its dominions and Crown colonies, and British India, declared war on Nazi Germany in 1939. War with Japan began in 1941, after it attacked British colonies in Asia...
      
       (1939–1945)
    • History of the United Kingdom (1945–present)
    • Premiership of Margaret Thatcher
      Premiership of Margaret Thatcher
      The Premiership of Margaret Thatcher began on 4 May 1979, with a mandate to reverse the UK's economic decline and to reduce the role of the state in the economy...
      
       (1979–1990)
    • Premiership of Tony Blair
      Premiership of Tony Blair
      The Premiership of Tony Blair began on 2 May 1997 and ended on 27 June 2007. While serving as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Blair concurrently served as the First Lord of the Treasury, the Minister for the Civil Service, the Leader of the Labour Party , and a Member of Parliament for the...
      
       (1997–2007)
    • Premiership of Gordon Brown
      Premiership of Gordon Brown
      The Premiership of Gordon Brown began on 27 June 2007, when Brown accepted the Queen's invitation to form a government, replacing Tony Blair as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and ended with his resignation as Prime Minister on 11 May 2010...
      
      
    • Premiership of David Cameron
      Premiership of David Cameron
      The premiership of David Cameron began on 11 May 2010 when Cameron accepted the Queen's invitation to form a government. This occurred upon the resignation of Cameron's predecessor as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Gordon Brown...
      
      
• History of the Republic of Ireland
  History of the Republic of Ireland
  The Irish state originally came into being in 1922 as the Irish Free State, a dominion of the British Commonwealth, having seceded from the United Kingdom under the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It comprises of 26 of Ireland's 32 counties...
  
   (1922 to present)
  • Irish civil war
    Irish Civil War
    The Irish Civil War was a conflict that accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom within the British Empire....
    
    

Geographic

• History of England
  History of England
  The history of England concerns the study of the human past in one of Europe's oldest and most influential national territories. What is now England, a country within the United Kingdom, was inhabited by Neanderthals 230,000 years ago. Continuous human habitation dates to around 12,000 years ago,...
  
  
  • History of Cornwall
    History of Cornwall
    The history of Cornwall begins with the pre-Roman inhabitants, including speakers of a Celtic language that would develop into Brythonic and Cornish. Cornwall was part of the territory of the tribe of the Dumnonii. After a period of Roman rule, Cornwall reverted to rule by independent...
    
    
  • History of London
    History of London
    London, the capital of the United Kingdom , has a recorded history that goes back over 2,000 years. During this time, it has grown to become one of the most significant financial and cultural capitals of the world. It has experienced plague, devastating fire, civil war, aerial bombardment and...
    
    
• History of Scotland
  History of Scotland
  The history of Scotland begins around 10,000 years ago, when humans first began to inhabit what is now Scotland after the end of the Devensian glaciation, the last ice age...
  
  
• History of Wales
  History of Wales
  The history of Wales begins with the arrival of human beings in the region thousands of years ago. Neanderthals lived in what is now Wales, or Cymru in Welsh, at least 230,000 years ago, while Homo sapiens arrived by about 29,000 years ago...
  
  
• History of Ireland
  History of Ireland
  The first known settlement in Ireland began around 8000 BC, when hunter-gatherers arrived from continental Europe, probably via a land bridge. Few archaeological traces remain of this group, but their descendants and later Neolithic arrivals, particularly from the Iberian Peninsula, were...
  
  
  • History of Northern Ireland
    History of Northern Ireland
    Northern Ireland is today one of the four countries of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, having been created as a separate legal entity on 3 May 1921, under the Government of Ireland Act 1920...
    
    
  • History of the Republic of Ireland
    History of the Republic of Ireland
    The Irish state originally came into being in 1922 as the Irish Free State, a dominion of the British Commonwealth, having seceded from the United Kingdom under the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It comprises of 26 of Ireland's 32 counties...
    
    
• History of the Isle of Man
  History of the Isle of Man
  The Isle of Man became separated from Britain and Ireland by about 8000 BC. It appears that colonisation took place by sea sometime before 6500 BC. The island has been visited by various raiders and trading peoples over the years. After being settled by people from Ireland in the first millennium,...
  
  
• History of Jersey
  History of Jersey
  The island of Jersey and the other Channel Islands represent the last remnants of the medieval Duchy of Normandy that held sway in both France and England. Jersey lies in the Bay of Mont St Michel and is the largest of the Channel Islands...
  
  

States

• England in the Middle Ages
  England in the Middle Ages
  England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the Medieval period — from the end of Roman rule in Britain through to the Early Modern period...
  
  
• Kingdom of England
  Kingdom of England
  The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
  
   (to 1707)
• Kingdom of Scotland
  Kingdom of Scotland
  The Kingdom of Scotland was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England...
  
   (to 1707)
• Kingdom of Ireland
  Kingdom of Ireland
  The Kingdom of Ireland refers to the country of Ireland in the period between the proclamation of Henry VIII as King of Ireland by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 and the Act of Union in 1800. It replaced the Lordship of Ireland, which had been created in 1171...
  
   (1541–1801)
• Kingdom of Great Britain
  Kingdom of Great Britain
  The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
  
   (1707–1801)
• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
  United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
  
   (1801–1927)
• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1927 – )
• Isle of Man
  Isle of Man
  The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
  
   (unrecorded date to present)

See also

• British military history
  British military history
  The Military history of Britain, including the military history of the United Kingdom and the military history of the island of Great Britain, is discussed in the following articles:...
  
  
• Economic history of the United Kingdom
  Economic history of the United Kingdom
  The economic history of the United Kingdom deals with the history of the economy of the United Kingdom from the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain on May 1st, 1707, with the political union of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland...
  
  
• Geology of the United Kingdom - for history before human occupation
• History of British society
  History of British society
  The social history of England evidences many social changes over the centuries. These major social changes have affected England both internally and in its relationship with other nations...
  
  
• List of natural disasters in the United Kingdom
• History of the horse in Britain
  History of the horse in Britain
  The known history of the horse in Britain starts with horse remains found in Pakefield, East Anglia dating from 700,000 BC, and in Boxgrove, Sussex, dating from 500,000 BC. Early humans were active hunters of horses, and finds from the Ice Age have been recovered from many sites...
  
  

Further reading

• A History of Britain
  A History of Britain (book)
  A History of Britain is a three volume work written by Simon Schama to accompany a series of documentaries he presented for the BBC.The volumes are:...
  
  : At the Edge of the World, 3500 BC - 1603 AD by Simon Schama
  Simon Schama
  Simon Michael Schama, CBE is a British historian and art historian. He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University. He is best known for writing and hosting the 15-part BBC documentary series A History of Britain...
  
  , Hyperion Books, 2000 ISBN 0-7868-6675-6
• A History of Britain, Volume 2: The Wars of the British 1603-1776 by Simon Schama
  Simon Schama
  Simon Michael Schama, CBE is a British historian and art historian. He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University. He is best known for writing and hosting the 15-part BBC documentary series A History of Britain...
  
  , Hyperion Books, 2001 ISBN 0-7868-6675-6
• A History of Britain III: The Fate of Empire 1776-2000 by Simon Schama
  Simon Schama
  Simon Michael Schama, CBE is a British historian and art historian. He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University. He is best known for writing and hosting the 15-part BBC documentary series A History of Britain...
  
  
• The British Isles: A History of Four Nations by Hugh Kearney, Cambridge University Press 2nd edition 2006, ISBN 978-0521846004
• A History of Britain - The Complete Collection on DVD by Simon Schama
  Simon Schama
  Simon Michael Schama, CBE is a British historian and art historian. He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University. He is best known for writing and hosting the 15-part BBC documentary series A History of Britain...
  
  , BBC 2002
• The Isles, A History by Norman Davies
  Norman Davies
  Professor Ivor Norman Richard Davies FBA, FRHistS is a leading English historian of Welsh descent, noted for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland, and the United Kingdom.- Academic career :...
  
  , Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-19-513442-7
• Shortened History of England by G. M. Trevelyan Penguin Books ISBN 0-14-023323-7
• This Sceptred Isle
  This Sceptred Isle
  This Sceptred Isle is a BBC radio series about the history of the lands and peoples of the British Isles. It was produced by Pete Atkin and broadcast in 1995 twice each day --- in the morning and late at night --- on Radio 4...
  
  : 55BC-1901 by Christopher Lee
  Christopher Lee (historian)
  Christopher Lee is a British writer, historian and broadcaster, best-known for writing the radio documentary series This Sceptred Isle for the BBC.Lee's career began as a defence and foreign affairs correspondent for the BBC...
  
   Penguin Books ISBN 0-14-026133-8 (originally a radio series http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/sceptred_isle/)
• The Reduced History of Britain - by Chas Newkey-Burden
  Chas Newkey-Burden
  Chas Newkey-Burden is a British journalist and author. His books include The Reduced History of Britain, Great Email Disasters and Not In My Name: A Compendium Of Modern Hypocrisy...
  
  

External links

• World History Database
• The most comprehensive sites on British History
• Encyclopedia of British History
• 1000 years of British history
• British History Online
• Homepage of the BBC History website
• British History Interactive Timeline
• Rutgers University Libraries - American and British History
• British History at about.com
• English History and Heritage guide - History of England
• The British History Site with rss feed#
• Mytimemachine.co.uk
• The History Files http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/index.html