A History of Britain

If the local people - the Aborigines, Maoris and American Indians - were lucky, they only lost their land. If they were unlucky, they were killed.

Without its empire, Britain is a small country again - but a small country with a big history.

The Norman invasion of Ireland in 1171 was the idea of an Irish King, Dermot of Leinster. When he stole another king's wife, he lost power over his lands. He asked the English King, Henry II, for help. Henry sent an army, and the island of Ireland has never been completely independent since then.

In the 1930's, about a quarter of the world's population was ruled by the British. 'The sun never goes down on our empire,' they said. They meant that it was always daytime somewhere in the Empire. They also meant that their empire was for ever.