Robert Tombs

The first full-length history of England in one volume for many decades—now in paperback. The English first came into existence as an idea, before they had a common ruler and before the country they lived in even had a name. They have lasted as a recognizable entity ever since, and their defining national institutions can be traced back to the...

One of Brexit's leading intellectuals examines the historical context of the referendum vote in this Sunday Times bestseller. Geography comes before history. Islands cannot have the same history as continental plains. The United Kingdom is a European country, but not the same kind of European country as Germany, Poland or Hungary. For most of the 150 centuries during which Britain...