Chapter One - A Brief History of the UK
A sample from Chapter One
"....Napoleon’s forces were a real threat to both British security and it’s supremacy over global trade. On 21st October 1805, Admiral Lord Nelson engaged the French fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar and successfully quashed the threat of invasion. Nelson lost his life during the battle, along with 1700 British soldiers and 6000 casualties to the French forces. Following imprisonment on Elba, Napoleon returned to power in 1815 and was intent on invading Belgium on his way to Britain. On the 18th June 1815, the Duke of Wellington engaged the French forces at the battle of Waterloo, defeating Napoleon and ending the threat of invasion for good. Napoleon was imprisoned on St Helena, dying in 1821.
In 1837, Queen Victoria took the throne of the country, ushering in a new era of social and industrial change. The Empire was expanding and Britain had become the crucible of the industrial revolution. During the reign of Victoria, some huge social changes took place, including the first mass relocations of people as the country changed from a rural to an urban society. The period of Victoria’s 64 year reign, constituted Britain’s’ Golden Age of industrial, military and economic supremacy, with the territories of Empire including Canada, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand and much of India and Africa. Two Prime Ministers put in place sweeping social reforms. Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone changed society through universal education, the legalisation of trade unions and the extension of the right to vote to the common man. It would however, be another 30 years before this right would be extended to women."
Chapter Two - The British People: A Class Act
A sample from Chapter Two
"...Manual workers are better off then ever before. According to the 1998 New Earnings Survey, the average full time wage for a male manual worker was £307 per week, but this compared to the average wage for non manual work of £425 is still a significant difference.
Working class culture can be seen as distinct from the middle class, but this is dependant upon several factors. Sociological studies indicate that there is little social interaction between members of different classes. Almost all studies show that the social networks of manual workers are drawn from the working class. One of the most visible changes in the economic position of manual workers in Britain is the growth of home ownership. In 1996, 77% of skilled manual households either owned outright the house they lived in, or were in the process of purchasing it with a mortgage. If income and property were used to differentiate the working and middle classes in the past, the question “Do these divisions still exist in 21st century Britain?” must be asked.
The middle class are sociologically defined as those employed in non-manual, white collar occupations and their dependants. Between 1911 and 1981, non manual workers have grown from 18% to 52% of the population, making the middle class, the largest social grouping in Britain (Price and Bain 1988).
The middle class in Britain is divided into several groups, according to their occupation (and as we shall see later in this chapter, subdivided into middle class groups). Non-manual workers (shop assistants, office clerks), lower professionals and technicians, managers and higher professionals all add to the complexity of this structure. On top of this, a new sub group identified as the petite bourgeoisie (self employed owners of businesses, consultants) also adds to the complex definition of this class.
Within the middle class, there is significant mobility, both social and spatial. The middle class contains some very rich people, but most are comfortable and share in the consumer society that has developed around them.
The upper class, although at times seeming to merge with the upper echelons of the middle class, is very small. Its defining characteristic is wealth. Britain has the most unequal distribution of wealth of any EU state. The wealthiest 5% own 37% of marketable wealth in Britain. However, in 1920, the top 1% owned 60% of marketable wealth. In this respect, the power and wealth of the upper class has declined markedly in the last 90 years. Through networks of family and institutional bonding, the upper class remains more separate and less socially and spatially mobile than the middle class."
Chapter Three - British Institutions
Sample Text from Chapter Three
"This chapter looks at a few parts of British life which in some ways characterise the British people. Although this list is by no means exhaustive and highly subjective, it represents a snapshot into life on this small island.
The Monarchy
The present royal family, The House of Windsor, has seen more than its’ fair share of scandal and intrigue over the past 100 years. The present Queens’ great grandmother, Queen Victoria, ruled over arguably, Britain's golden age. During her reign, industrialisation took hold, spurred on by British industrial innovation, making the country the wealthiest in the world. Railways spanned the length and breadth of the country, allowing access to long distance travel for the first time, a fact not lost on the monarch, who had the rail network extended to reach her Scottish country house, Balomoral. Following the death of her beloved Albert, Victoria became a virtual recluse for a decade. An excellent representation of this part of her life is shown in the film “Mrs Brown”, starring Judi Dench and Billy Connolly.
The Edwardian which followed Victoria’s reign era came to an abrupt end in 1936 when the present Queen’s uncle, Edward VIII abdicated in order to marry the love of his life, American divorcee, Wallis Simpson. This forced his brother George to become king, a role for which he was unprepared and unsuited. A poor public speaker affected by a stammer, George had looked forward to a life of royal obscurity with his wife Elizabeth and his two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, but instead found himself at the helm of a nation wracked by war. The Windsors remained in London during the blitz, a fact which has endeared them to a generation who fought with them while Britain was at war with Germany.
Elizabeth was groomed to be Queen and took her duties, perhaps earlier than expected, in 1953 at the young age of 26. Elizabeth married her distant cousin, Prince Phillip of Greece, and the two have become associated as part of the fabric of post war Britain.
The Queen has four children (in order of age) Charles (58), Anne (56), Andrew (46) and Edward (42) and one sister (Margaret, 1930-2002). The royal family have not succeeded in persuing long marriages, with the exception of Edward and the Queen herself, they have all divorced.
Princess Margaret, the Queen’s sister, died in 2002 as a result of a stroke and complications from an earlier accident. Margaret wished to marry her first love, Group Captain Peter Townsend, but was told in no uncertain terms, by the family and the government, that this would not be allowed, as he was divorced. She went on to marry Anthony Armstrong Jones, a fashionable London photographer who became Lord Snowden. Together they became one of the superstar couples of the 1960’s, but their marriage was dogged by scandal and rumours of infidelity. They divorced in 1978 after nearly a decade of living virtually separate lives...."