The Oath of Allegiance
Every Member of Parliament (MP) at Westminster and Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) at Holyrood has…
Rights on becoming 16 years old
A young person acquires some legal rights at age 16. These are not the full rights of…
“UK” or “Britain” or … ?
The UK, Great Britain, the British Isles, England… these are not just different names for the same…
The CILIP Carnegie Medal
“Words are mastered by meeting them, not by avoiding them.” This was Geraldine McCaughrean’s advice to publishers…
Samuel Pepys’s Diary
Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) was born and lived most of his life in London and began writing his…
Emily Brontë
Emily Jane Brontë (1818-48) was part of a tragic but creative family in Yorkshire which produced…
Betting & Gambling
Betting and gambling are now legal activities in the UK, although for much of the past they…
The Divine Right of Kings
The Divine Right of Kings was a theory that the monarchy was appointed by a divine being,…
Gertrude Jekyll
Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) was born in London and spent most of her life in Surrey. The arts…
The English Civil War
The English Civil War took place in the middle of the 17th century and was a struggle…
Sir V.S. Naipaul
The writer Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad (“V.S.”) Naipaul died in August 2018, just short of his 86th birthday.…
Ascension Island
Ascension Island, grouped with St. Helena and Tristan de Cunha islands, is one of fourteen British ‘overseas…