It is usual to see the United Kingdom as an island of continuity in an otherwise convulsed and unstable Europe; its political history a smooth sequence of administrations, a story of building a welfare state and coping with decline. But what if Britain's history was approached from a different angle? What if we wrote about it with as we might write the history of Germany, say, or the Soviet Union, as a story of power, and of transformation? David Edgerton's major new book breaks out of the confines of traditional British national history to reveal an unfamiliar place, subject to radical discontinuities. Out of a liberal, capitalist, genuinely global power of a unique kind, there arose from the 1940s a distinct British nation. This was committed to internal change, making it much more like the great continental powers. From the 1970s it became bound up both with the European Union and with foreign capital in new ways. Such a perspective produces new and refreshed understanding of everything from the nature of British politics to the performance of British industry. Packed with surprising examples and arguments, The Rise and Fall of the British Nationgives us a grown-up, unsentimental history, one which is crucial at a moment of serious reconsideration for the country and its future.

The familiar image of the British in the Second World War is that of the plucky underdog taking on German might. David Edgerton's bold, compelling new history shows the conflict in a new light, with Britain as a very wealthy country, formidable in arms, ruthless in pursuit of its interests, and in command of a global production system. Rather than belittled by a Nazi behemoth, Britain arguably had the world's most advanced mechanized forces. It had not only a great empire, but allies large and small. Edgerton shows that Britain fought on many fronts and its many home fronts kept it exceptionally well supplied with weapons, food and oil, allowing it to mobilize to an extraordinary extent. It created and deployed a vast empire of machines, from the humble tramp steamer to the battleship, from the rifle to the tank, made in colossal factories the world over. Scientists and engineers invented new weapons, encouraged by a government and prime minister enthusiastic about the latest technologies. The British, indeed Churchillian, vision of war and modernity was challenged by repeated defeat at the hands of less well-equipped enemies. Yet the end result was a vindication of this vision. Like the United States, a powerful Britain won a cheap victory, while others paid a great price. Putting resources, machines and experts at the heart of a global rather than merely imperial story, Britain's War Machine demolishes timeworn myths about wartime Britain and gives us a groundbreaking and often unsettling picture of a great power in action.

This volume is a reprint of Ralph Davis’ seminal 1962 book, The Rise of the English Shipping Industry in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. The aim was to examine the economic reasons for the growth of British shipping before the arrival of modern technology, with a particular attention on overseas trade. The study can roughly be divided into two halves. The first is an in-depth exploration the roles within the shipping industry, from shipbuilders and shipowners to seamen and masters, from an economic perspective. The second is a chapter-by-chapter review of British overseas trade with Northern Europe, Southern Europe, the Mediterranean, East India, and America and the West Indies. The final two chapters diverge from the main sections, and focus on the interplay between government, war, and shipping. Davis attaches no extra significance to any particular nation or role, and offers an even-handed approach to maritime history still considered rare in the present day. Costs, profits, voyage estimates, ship-prices, and earnings all come under close and equal scrutiny as Davis seeks to understand the trades and developments in shipping during the period. To conclude, he places the study into a broader historical context and discovers that shipping played a measured but crucial role in the development of industrialisation and English economic development. This edition includes an introduction by the series editor; Davis’ introduction and preface; seventeen analytical chapters; a concluding chapter; two appendices concerning shipping statistics and sources; and a comprehensive index.