A History of Britain - The British Wars

The British wars began on the morning of 23 July 1637, heralding 200 years of battles. Most were driven by religious or political conviction, as Republicans and Royalists, Catholics and Protestants, Tories and Whigs, and colonialists and natives vied for supremacy. Of the battles not fought on home territory, many took place across Europe, America, India, and also at sea.

4 Episodes

The British Wars (1603 - 1649)

Season 2 - Episode 1

The turbulent civil wars of the early seventeenth century would culminate in two events unique to British history; the public execution of a...

Revolutions (1649 - 1689)

Season 2 - Episode 2

In the aftermath of Civil War, Britain was a kingless republic led by Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell ruled with an iron hand; when Parliament dar...

Britannia Incorporated (1690 - 1750)

Season 2 - Episode 3

In 1690s England, the victors of the Glorious Revolution celebrated the dawn of a new era under a new king - William III. In Scotland, the J...

The Wrong Empire (1750 - 1800)

Season 2 - Episode 4

How did a people who thought themselves free end up subjugating so much of the world, a nation with such a distrust of armies become the gre...