The story of Britain from the arrival of Julius Caesar in 55BC to the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, specially written for BBC Radio 4 by Christopher Lee , narrated by Anna Massey and featuring extracts from Sir Winston Churchill's A History of the English-speaking Peoples read by Peter Jeffrey .

 

6. The First British Empire 1702-1760

Queen Anne was the last of the Stuart monarchs. In her twelve years on the throne she became the last monarch to veto an Act of Parliament. Scotland was officially united with England and Wales, and the Duke of Marlborough -Churchill's most illustrious ancestor - became a national hero in winning the Battle of Blenheim. When Anne died without an heir, Great Britain acquired its first Hanoverian king - George the First.

The reigns of the first two Georges witnessed the first great financial scandal - the South Sea Bubble - and the rise of Robert Walpole, the man usually called Britain's first Prime Minister. Rule Brittania and God Save the King came into the national repertoire, gin and grog came into the national drinks cabinet and William Pitt the Elder, Bonnie Prince Charlie and Clive of India all found their way to centre stage.