The Shortest History of England

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It is as if English history is on autopilot. For this cry has assailed southern leaders from the death of Athelstan (the first Englishman to rule all of England) in 939AD. The struggle adopted many ethnic/religious/political masks, starting with part-Scandinavian northerners v would-be southern rulers. It was this split that in 1066 doomed England to conquest. For three centuries, a French-speaking elite gave England a faux unity, but as they anglicised, the old divide reopened, climaxing in the apocalyptic north v south bloodshed of Towton in 1461. The north became the fortress of Catholicism in the Pilgrimage of Grace (1536) and the Northern Rebellion (1569). Even the civil war had a north-south element.

Meghan and Kate were encouraged to dress like Diana 'so some of her shine could rub off on them', Sussex cheerleader claims in new book Maya Jama looks cosy in a red jumper as she greets fans on a night out in London after making her first public appearance with boyfriend Stormzy The Industrial Revolution could have changed everything: for once, geology, principally, King Coal, was on the side of the north. By 1848, its latest cultural-political expression, the Chartist movement, was ready to mount a challenge to the south and (with the delighted support of Karl Marx) even to try setting up an alternative parliament in Manchester, in 1854. Stacey Dooley shows off daughter Minnie's lookalike red hair as she stuns fans with a HUGE announcement: 'This can't happen already!' Lizzo arrives at premiere of Beyonce's Renaissance Tour concert film... after Lemonade singer stood by her amid sexual harassment lawsuitOf Henry VIII’s appeal to the Vatican for an annulment of his heirless marriage to Catherine of Aragon, for example, Hawes writes, “Henry blustered and threatened to invade Rome himself, but 15 years of aggression and duplicity meant that at the vital moment England had no ally and hence no leverage in Europe”. Under the rule of Athelstan, England became one nation for first time in 929. “Athelstan was and is regarded as the great uniter of the country. But the moment he died, it all fell apart again and his grandsons, they divided the country north and south again, after which you have Ethelred and the Viking invasions, by which time essentially the whole of the north of England, which now culturally includes Norfolk, is again speaking half-Scandinavian, and having totally different laws.” Priyanka Chopra wows in a stylish pink dress as she and chic Naomi Campbell lead the stars at the F1 Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi

A vivid, super-charged tour through British history, showing that many of the tensions of today have been present throughout'Into the present day, Hawes believes that the break-up of the UK is now inevitable, which offers possibilities for an English reawakening. For too long a sense of Englishness, as the historian Robert Tombs calls it, has been submerged within Britishness, a process that began before the Act of Union of 1707, with the succession of the Tudors, who were part Welsh. Beauty fans race to buy new ceramide-rich skincare line that's so effective fine lines virtually DISAPPEAR: 'Have noticed results after using it morning and night' My rating is somewhat harsh in one respect: my knowledge of early English history is shallow and so I somewhat enjoyed the first half of this book for its fast paced and coherent narrative which taught me a number of basic facts of early England in a memorable way. Strictly star Bobby Brazier's step mum Kate Dwyer left in tears after she is forced to miss his emotional dance in tribute to late mother Jade Goody