A Useful History of Britain: The Politics of Getting Things Done

The United Kingdom has not yet lasted as long as the Kingdom of Wessex, and may not do so. Conventional histories of Britain, though, tell the story of the origins of the UK as if that was the natural endpoint of political development on the island. Here, Michael Braddick sets out to do something else—to ask how people in the past used political power to get things done.

Offering a concise thematic overview, it shows how history can speak directly to current political debates. Many people fe...