UNITED KINGDOM

officially United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, byname Great Britain, or Britain, island nation, situated off the northwestern coast of Europe in the Atlantic Ocean, covering an area of 94,251 square miles (244,110 square km). The capital is London. The United Kingdom comprises the island of Great Britainconsisting of England (50,363 square miles [130,439 square km]), occupying most of the southern two-thirds of the island; Scotland (30,418 square miles [78,783 square km]), occupying the northern one-third of the island; and Wales (8,019 square miles [20,768 square km]), lying to the west of Englandand Northern Ireland, also known as Ulster, lying in the northeastern part of the island of Ireland (5,452 square miles [14,120 square km]). The country extends between latitudes 49 and 61 N (about 600 miles from south to north) and longitudes 1 E to 9 W (about 300 miles at its widest extent east-to-west). The population in 1998 was estimated at 59,126,000. The castle at Conwy, Wales, dating from the 13th century. officially United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, byname Great Britain or Britain island nation located off the northwestern coast of mainland Europe. It comprises four geographic and historical partsEngland, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom contains most of the area and population of the British Islesthe geographic term for the group of islands that includes Great Britain, Ireland, and several smaller islands. Together, England, Wales, and Scotland constitute Great Britain, the larger of the two principal islands, while Northern Ireland and the republic of Ireland constitute the second largest island, Ireland. England, occupying most of southern Great Britain, includes the Isles of Scilly off the southwest coast and the Isle of Wight off the southern coast. Scotland, occupying northern Great Britain, includes the Orkney and Shetland islands off the northern coast and the Hebrides off the northwestern coast. Wales lies west of England and includes the island of Anglesey to the northwest. Apart from the land border with the Irish republic, the United Kingdom is surrounded by sea. To the south of England and between the United Kingdom and France is the English Channel. The North Sea lies to the east. To the west of Wales and northern England and to the southeast of Northern Ireland, the Irish Sea separates Great Britain from Ireland, while southwestern England, the northwestern coast of Northern Ireland, and western Scotland face the Atlantic Ocean. At its widest the United Kingdom is 300 miles (500 km) across. From the northern tip of Scotland to the southern coast of England, it is about 600 miles (1,000 km). No part is more than 75 miles (120 km) from the sea. The national capital is London, situated on the tidal River Thames in southeastern England. The names United Kingdom, Great Britain, and England are often confused, even by U.K. inhabitants. England is just one country within the kingdom. Great Britain comprises England, Wales, and Scotland, while the United Kingdom also includes Northern Ireland (although the name Britain is sometimes used to refer to the United Kingdom as a whole). Wales and England were unified politically, administratively, and legally by the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1542, although Wales had been under effective English rule since the 13th century. In 1707 Scotland joined England and Wales in forming a single Parliament for Great Britain, but the three countries had shared a monarch since 1603. Northern Ireland came under British control during the 17th century and, along with the rest of Ireland, was formally joined to Great Britain by the Act of Union of 1800. When the republic of Ireland gained independence in 1922, Northern Ireland remained a part of the United Kingdom. The political system of the United Kingdom has provided stability and consistency since the 19th century through a structure that has evolved rather than been designed. The national central government, based in London, devolved some responsibilities in 1999 to the newly created Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, and Northern Ireland Assembly and delegates other responsibilities to local governments. The national government is a parliamentary democracy under the aegis of the monarchy, which links the executive, legislature, judiciary, armed forces, and Church of England. Although in practice deferring almost all powers to the parliamentary government, the monarch and the royal family are a source of unity and national spirit. In Parliament the House of Lords consists mainly of appointed peers, while members of the House of Commons are elected from single-member constituencies by winning a plurality of votes. On the world stage today the United Kingdom is perhaps best seen as a middle-sized, middle-ranking industrial country whose political and cultural links with other areas of the world are mostly a legacy of its large former empire. The United Kingdom is part of the European Union, and it retains links with parts of its former empire through the Commonwealth. It also benefits from historical and cultural links with the United States and is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This diversity of interests, together with a network of international relations, means that the United Kingdom is not easily identified as part of a specific geographic bloc among the Western industrialized nations. Economically the United Kingdom has benefited since the 1970s from production of oil and gas from deposits in the North Sea. London has remained a leading world financial centre, whose time zone allows it to bridge the gap between trading in Tokyo and New York City. The United Kingdom's traditional strength in manufacturing, however, has declined, with employment in manufacturing falling in absolute terms. This process has undoubtedly contributed to a social and economic gap between the economically challenged industrialized north and the more prosperous service-oriented south. Socially the United Kingdom suffers from pockets of poverty, with some inner-city areas among the most impoverished in Europe. Urban poverty exists even in London, one of Europe's richest cities. The growth in the population of ethnic minorities from former colonies has enriched the nation's cultural fabric but contributed to social tensions, which occasionally result in violence. In contrast, home ownership is widespread and, while the state provides free schooling, so-called public schools thrive. (Despite their name, these are exclusive private-sector schools that charge fees.) With some exceptions, notably curbs on public servants, freedom of expression exists, and the United Kingdom is renowned for the strength of its arts. Area 94,251 square miles (244,110 square km). Pop. (1998 est.) 59,126,000. Ralph Charles Atkins Additional reading Geography Land and people The Ordnance Survey Motoring Atlas: Britain 2001 (2000) is an authoritative atlas of the United Kingdom. Tony Champion (A.G. Champion) et al., The Population of Britain in the 1990s: A Social and Economic Atlas (1996), provides a detailed social portrait of the nation in map form. Eric H. Brown and Keith Clayton (eds.), The Geomorphology of the British Isles (1976 ), a series arranged by region, explores the evolution of the country's complex and varied landforms. Changes in the observable landscapes are detailed in several works in the series by Roy Millward and Adrian Robinson, Landscapes of Britain (197173). Classic illustrated works on physical geography include L. Dudley Stamp, Britain's Structure and Scenery, 6th ed. (1967, reprinted 1984); and Gordon Manley, Climate and the British Scene (1952, reissued 1971). A.G. Tansley, The British Islands and Their Vegetation (1939, reissued in 2 vol., 1965), is a monumental classic on the ecology of the British Isles.Useful sources on the human geography of the United Kingdom include J.W. House (ed.), The UK Space: Resources, Environment, and the Future, 3rd ed. (1982); and Vince Gardiner and Hugh Matthews (eds.), The Changing Geography of the United Kingdom, 3rd ed. (2000). Mohan Luthra, Britain's Black Population: Social Change, Public Policy, and Agenda (1997), presents a study of the United Kingdom's ethnic minorities. Information on recent developments in the country's demography and social conditions appears in Britain (annual), published by the Central Office of Information. William Ravenhill Economy Historical studies of economic development and growth include R.C.O. Matthews, C.H. Feinstein, and J.C. Odling-Smee, British Economic Growth, 18561973 (1982); Rex Pope, The British Economy Since 1914: A Study in Decline? (1998); Roger Middleton, The British Economy Since 1945: Engaging with the Debate (2000); Peter Browning, The Treasury and Economic Policy, 19641985 (1986); and Nick Gardner, Decade of Discontent: The Changing British Economy Since 1973 (1987). David Sinclair, The Pound: A Biography (2000) provides a popular history of Britain's currency. General surveys of the economy by sector include M.H. Peston, The British Economy: An Elementary Macroeconomic Perspective, 2nd ed. (1984); and John Black, The Economics of Modern Britain: An Introduction to Macroeconomics, 4th ed. (1985). J.C.R. Dow and I.D. Saville, A Critique of Monetary Policy: Theory and British Experience (1988, reissued 1990); and C.A.E. Goodhart, Monetary Theory and Practice: The UK Experience (1984), explore monetary issues. Special studies of economic performance and economic conditions include Ben Fine and Laurence Harris, The Peculiarities of the British Economy (1985); John Kay, Colin Mayer, and David Thompson (eds.), Privatization and Regulation: The UK Experience (1986); and Rudiger Dornbusch and Richard Layard (eds.), The Performance of the British Economy (1987). William Keegan, Mrs. Thatcher's Economic Experiment (1984); Samuel Brittan, Capitalism with a Human Face (1995); and Will Hutton, The State We're In, rev. ed. (1996), analyze the influence of government policy on the country's economy. Hugo Young, This Blessed Plot: Britain and Europe from Churchill to Blair, rev. ed. (1999), provides an account of the United Kingdom's relations with the rest of Europe during the second half of the 20th century. Historical and current economic developments are treated in OECD Economic Surveys: United Kingdom (annual), published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; National Institute Economic Review (quarterly); and Economic Outlook (monthly), published by the London Business School Centre for Economic Forecasting. Ulric M. Spencer Administration and social conditions Discussions of governmental organization and politics include Dennis Kavanagh, British Politics: Continuities and Change, 4th ed. (2000); Ian Budge et al., The New British Politics (1998); Jeremy Paxman, Friends in High Places: Who Runs Britain? (1990); John Mohan (ed.), The Political Geography of Contemporary Britain (1989); David Butler, The Electoral System in Britain Since 1918, 2nd ed. (1963, reprinted 1986); Alan R. Ball, British Political Parties: The Emergence of a Modern Party System, 2nd ed. (1987); and John Kingdom, Government and Politics in Britain, 2nd ed. (1999). Philip Norton, The British Polity, 3rd ed. (1994); Peter Hennessy, Cabinet (1986); and Michael Ryle and Peter G. Richards (eds.), The Commons Under Scrutiny, 3rd rev. ed. (1988), discuss the constitutional framework. Peter Hennessy, Whitehall (1989), provides a detailed history of the civil service. Peter Hennessy, The Hidden Wiring: Unearthing the British Constitution (1995), presents a survey of current governmental and administrative practice.Sources on the operations of local government include David Wilson and Chris Game, Local Government in the United Kingdom (1994); Tony Travers, The Politics of Local Government Finance (1986); Paying for Local Government (1986), a report to Parliament; and Tony Travers, Change for Local Government: A Commentary on the Government's Proposals for Local Authority Finance (1998).R.M. Jackson, Jackson's Machinery of Justice, 8th ed., ed. by J.R. Spencer (1989); and Robert Reiner, The Politics of the Police, new ed. (1999), look at the political aspects of the administration of law and law enforcement. On education, see Keith Evans, The Development and Structure of the English School System (1985), a study of school management and organization; and Roy Lowe, Education in the Post-War Years: A Social History (1988), which explores the change in policies in the mid-20th century that continue to influence the educational system of the United Kingdom. Michael Sanderson, Education and Economic Decline in Britain, 1870 to the 1990s (1999), explores the hypothesis that education policy has contributed to the United Kingdom's recent economic problems. Nicholas Timmins, The Five Giants: A Biography of the Welfare State, (1995) offers a survey of the evolution of the United Kingdom's welfare state since the 1940s. Contrasting views on the administration of welfare economics are discussed in Julian Le Grand, The Strategy of Equality: Redistribution and the Social Services (1982); Howard Glennerster, Paying for Welfare: Towards 2000, 3rd ed. (1997); Nicholas Barr, The Economics of the Welfare State, 3rd ed. (1998); and A.B. Atkinson, The Economic Consequences of Rolling Back the Welfare State (1999). Christopher Ham, Health Policy in Britain: The Politics and Organisation of the National Health Service, 4th ed. (1999), examines public policy and the politics of the health care system. Analyses of policies on income maintenance and redistribution and provision of housing include A.B. Atkinson, The Economics of Inequality, 2nd ed. (1983); J.A. Kay, The British Tax System, 5th ed. (1990); A.E. Holmans, Housing Policy in Britain: A History (1987); and Peter Malpass and Alan Murie, Housing Policy and Practice, 5th ed. (1999). Nicholas A. Barr Cultural life Useful information on all aspects of the cultural and social life of the United Kingdom over the centuries appears in Alan Isaacs and Jennifer Monk (eds.), The Cambridge Illustrated Dictionary of British Heritage (1986), an alphabetically arranged reference work. Historical studies of social and cultural customs include Hugh Cunningham, Leisure in the Industrial Revolution: c. 1780c. 1880 (1980); and Susan Lasdun, Victorians at Home (1981; reprinted 1985). A good description of the country's architecture accompanies the excellent maps and photographs in Nigel Saul (ed.), The National Trust Historical Atlas of Britain: Prehistoric to Medieval (1994, reissued 1997). Other analyses of special topics include Alastair Fowler, A History of English Literature (1987; reissued 1991); Ian Ousby (ed.), The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English, new. ed. (1993); David Christopher, British Culture: An Introduction (1999); Peter Miles and Malcolm Smith, Cinema, Literature, & Society: Elite and Mass Culture in Interwar Britain (1987); Colin Seymour-Ure, The British Press and Broadcasting Since 1945, 2nd ed. (1996); and Iain Chambers, Popular Culture: The Metropolitan Experience (1986, reissued 1988), which explores the relationship between the development and growth of cities and the complexity of modern popular culture. Richard Hoggart, An English Temper: Essays on Education, Culture, and Communications (1982), offers a wide-reaching examination of intellectual life. A criticism of the commercialization of British culture is found in Richard Hoggart, The Way We Live Now (1995; also published as The Tyranny of Relativism: Culture and Politics in Contemporary English Society, 1998). The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica History General works The multivolume The Oxford History of England series, with the individual works cited in the appropriate chronological sections below, provides a comprehensive survey and excellent bibliographies. More concise overviews include George Macaulay Trevelyan, History of England, new illustrated ed. (1973); Arvel B. Erickson and Martin J. Havran, England: Prehistory to the Present (1968); Maurice Ashley, Great Britain to 1688: A Modern History (1961); K.B. Smellie, Great Britain Since 1688: A Modern History (1962); and Christopher Hibbert, The English: A Social History, 10661945 (1986). For quick reference, see Christopher Haigh (ed.), The Cambridge Historical Encyclopedia of Great Britain and Ireland (1985); and E.B. Fryde et al. (eds.), Handbook of British Chronology, 3rd ed. (1986). Ancient Britain Stuart Piggott, Ancient Europe from the Beginnings of Agriculture to Classical Antiquity (1965, reprinted 1973), a survey of the pre-Roman period; and Timothy Darvill, Prehistoric Britain (1987), a systematic account of the same five centuries, are both based on modern archaeological research. Peter Salway, Roman Britain (1981), from the above-mentioned Oxford series; and Sheppard Frere, Britannia: A History of Roman Britain, 3rd rev. ed. (1987), provide detailed analyses. A.L.F. Rivet (ed.), The Roman Villa in Britain (1969), describes various aspects of the Roman villas of Britain and the agricultural system and way of life they represent; Anthony Birley, Life in Roman Britain, new ed. (1981), studies the government, institutions, life, and religions of Roman Britain as they are reflected in archaeological finds and works of the ancient historians; and Eric Birley, Roman Britain and the Roman Army (1953, reprinted 1961), explores the organization of the Roman army through the evidence of inscriptions. The Anglo-Saxon period A valuable translation of and commentary on essential records and narrative material preserved in primary sources is provided in Dorothy Whitelock (ed.), English Historical Documents, c. 5001042, 2nd ed. (1979), the first volume of a new edition of the noted multivolume series of sources. Modern general histories include Frank Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, 3rd ed. (1971, reprinted 1989); Peter Hunter Blair, An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England, 2nd ed. (1977); D.J.V. Fisher, The Anglo-Saxon Age, c. 4001042 (1973); Dorothy Whitelock, The Beginning of English Society, 2nd ed. (1954, reprinted 1982); and R.I. Page, Life in Anglo-Saxon England (1970). For coverage of special topics, see J.N.L. Myres, The English Settlements (1986); Martyn J. Whittock, The Origins of England, 410600 (1986); J.M. Wallace-Hadrill, Early Germanic Kinship in England and on the Continent (1971, reprinted 1980); William A. Chaney, The Cult of Kingship in Anglo-Saxon England: The Transition from Paganism to Christianity (1970); Henry Mayr-Harting, The Coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England (1972, reprinted 1977); John Godfrey, The Church in Anglo-Saxon England (1962); Frank Barlow, The English Church, 10001066: A History of the Later Anglo-Saxon Church, 2nd ed. (1979); H.R. Loyn, The Governance of Anglo-Saxon England, 5001087 (1984), and The Vikings in Britain (1977); Frank Barlow, Edward the Confessor (1970, reprinted 1984); James Tait, The Medieval English Borough: Studies on Its Origins and Constitutional History (1936, reprinted 1968); Charles S. Orwin and Christabel S. Orwin, The Open Fields, 3rd ed. (1967); Christine Fell, Cecily Clark, and Elizabeth Williams, Women in Anglo-Saxon England and the Impact of 1066 (1984); and James Campbell, Essays in Anglo-Saxon History (1986). England from 1066 to 1485 For translation of a wide range of sources, with commentary, see David C. Douglas and George W. Greenaway (eds.), English Historical Documents, 10421189 (1953); Harry Rothwell (ed.), English Historical Documents, 11891327 (1975); and A.R. Myers (ed.), English Historical Documents, 13271485 (1969), all from the above-mentioned series. Other good anthologies are R. Allen Brown, The Norman Conquest (1984); Bertie Wilkinson, The Constitutional History of England, 12161399, 3 vol. (194858, reprinted as The Constitutional History of Medieval England, 12161399 , 196567), and Constitutional History of England in the Fifteenth Century, 13991485 (1964). General works recommended include Helen M. Cam, England Before Elizabeth, 3rd ed. (1967); Austin Lane Poole, From Domesday Book to Magna Carta, 10871216, 2nd ed. (1955, reprinted 1975); Maurice Powicke, The Thirteenth Century, 12161307, 2nd ed. (1962); M.T. Clanchy, England and Its Rulers, 10661272: Foreign Lordship and National Identity (1983); May Mckisack, The Fourteenth Century, 13071399 (1959, reprinted 1976); Anthony Tuck, Crown and Nobility 12721461: Political Conflict in Late Medieval England (1985); Michael Prestwich, The Three Edwards: War and State in England, 12721377 (1980); E.F. Jacob, The Fifteenth Century, 13991485 (1961, reprinted 1978); and M.H. Keen, England in the Later Middle Ages: A Political History (1973). Among studies of individual reigns, see David C. Douglas, William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact upon England (1964, reissued 1977); Frank Barlow, William Rufus (1983); R.H.C. Davis, King Stephen, 11351154 (1967, reissued 1977); W.L. Warren, Henry II (1973); Michael Prestwich, Edward I (1988); G.L. Harriss (ed.), Henry V: The Practice of Kingship (1985); Bertram Wolffe, Henry VI (1973); Charles Ross, Edward IV (1974, reprinted 1983), and Richard III (1981, reprinted 1988). For the history of government and administration, see W.L. Warren, The Governance of Norman and Angevin England, 10861272 (1987); S.B. Chrimes, An Introduction to the Administrative History of Mediaeval England, 3rd ed. (1966); and T.F. Tout, Chapters in the Administrative History of Mediaeval England: The Wardrobe, the Chamber, and the Small Seals, 6 vol. (192033, reprinted 1967).Recommended works on special topics include R. Allen Brown, The Normans and the Norman Conquest, 2nd ed. (1985); V.H. Galbraith, The Making of Domesday Book (1961), superseded in many ways, but a classic; and Peter Sawyer (ed.), Domesday Book: A Reassessment (1985). On feudal society, see Frank Stenton, The First Century of English Feudalism, 10661166, 2nd ed. (1961, reprinted 1979); Austin Lane Poole, Obligations of Society in the XII and XIII Centuries (1946, reprinted 1984); and J.C. Holt, Magna Carta (1965), the best account of the Great Charter. See also his Magna Carta and Medieval Government (1985). For the nobility, see K.B. McFarlane, The Nobility of Later Medieval England (1973, reprinted 1980), a most influential book; and Chris Given-Wilson, The English Nobility in the Late Middle Ages: The Fourteenth-Century Political Community (1987). On Parliament, see G.O. Sayles, The King's Parliament of England (1974); G.L. Harriss, King, Parliament, and Public Finance in Medieval England to 1369 (1975); E.B. Fryde and Edward Miller (ed.), Historical Studies of the English Parliament, 2 vol. (1970); and R.G. Davies and J.H. Denton (eds.), The English Parliament in the Middle Ages (1981). On the economy of the period, see J.L. Bolton, The Medieval English Economy, 11501500 (1980); Edward Miller and John Hatcher, Medieval England: Rural Society and Economic Change, 10861348 (1978); M.M. Postan, The Medieval Economy and Society: An Economic History of Britain in the Middle Ages (1972); Reginald Lennard, Rural England. 10861135: A Study of Social and Agrarian Conditions (1959, reprinted 1966); and John Hatcher, Plague, Population, and the English Economy, 13481530 (1977). England's major trade is discussed in Eileen Power, The Wool Trade in English Medieval History (1941, reprinted 1987); and T.H. Lloyd, The English Wool Trade in the Middle Ages (1977). See also Susan Reynolds, An Introduction to the History of English Medieval Towns (1977, reprinted 1982); and Maurice Beresford, New Towns of the Middle Ages: Town Plantation in England, Wales and Gascony (1967, reprinted 1988). For the church, see Frank Barlow, The English Church, 10661154: A History of the Anglo-Norman Church (1979); David Knowles, The Monastic Order in England: A History of Its Development from the Times of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council, 9401216, 2nd ed. (1963), and The Religious Orders in England, 3 vol. (194859, reprinted 1979); W.A. Pantin, The English Church in the Fourteenth Century (1955, reprinted 1980); and C.H. Lawrence (ed.), The English Church and the Papacy in the Middle Ages (1965, reprinted 1984). Studies of the law of the period include Frederick Pollock and Frederic William Maitland, The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I, 2nd ed., 2 vol. (1898, reissued 1982), still fundamental; Doris M. Stenton, English Justice Between the Norman Conquest and the Great Chapter, 10661215 (1964); Alan Harding, The Law Courts of Medieval England (1973); S.F.C. Milsom, The Legal Framework of English Feudalism (1976, reprinted 1986); and John Bellamy, Crime and Public Order in England in the Later Middle Ages (1973). England in the 16th century For a good selection of the sources of the period, see C.H. Williams (ed.), English Historical Documents, 14851558 (1967). The Oxford series volumes provide comprehensive but rather dated surveys: J.D. Mackie, The Earlier Tudors, 14851558 (1952, reprinted 1978); and J.B. Black, The Reign of Elizabeth, 15581603, 2nd ed. (1959, reprinted 1976). Standard bibliographies for 16th-century England are Conyers Read (ed.), Bibliography of British History: Tudor Period, 14851603, 2nd ed. (1959, reissued 1978); and Mortimer Levine, Tudor England 14851603 (1968). Excellent political surveys include G.R. Elton, Reform and Reformation: England, 15091558 (1977); and Wallace MacCaffrey, The Shaping of the Elizabethan Regime (1968, reprinted 1971), and Queen Elizabeth and the Making of Policy, 15721588 (1981). The Reformation and ensuing religious crisis are best studied in A.G. Dickens, The English Reformation, rev. ed. (1967); G.R. Elton, Policy and Police: The Enforcement of the Reformation in the Age of Thomas Cromwell (1972, reprinted 1985); Patrick Collinson, The Elizabethan Puritan Movement (1967, reprinted 1982), and The Religion of Protestants: The Church in English Society, 15591625 (1982); and Claire Cross, Church and People, 14501660: The Triumph of the Laity in the English Church (1976, reprinted 1983). Political theory is brilliantly condensed in Christopher Morris, Political Thought in England: Tyndale to Hooker (1953, reprinted 1980). John Neale, Elizabeth I and Her Parliaments, 2 vol. (195357, reissued 1966), and The Elizabethan House of Commons, rev. ed. (1976), although under growing attack, constitute the standard authority on the subject. Social, psychological, and cultural history is best sampled in Louis B. Wright, Middle-Class Culture in Elizabethan England (1935, reissued 1980); Ralph A. Houlbrooke, The English Family, 14501700 (1984); Lawrence Stone, The Crisis of the Aristocracy, 15581641 (1965, reprinted 1979); E.M.W. Tillyard, The Elizabethan World Picture (1943, reprinted 1973); Keith Wrightson, English Society, 15801680 (1982); Fritz Caspari, Humanism and the Social Order in Tudor England (1954, reissued 1968); Lacey Baldwin Smith, Treason in Tudor England: Politics and Paranoia (1986); Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic (1971, reissued 1978); and Margo Todd, Christian Humanism and the Puritan Social Order (1987). Garrett Mattingly, The Armada (1959, reprinted 1987), remains the classic account. Foreign policy is surveyed by R.B. Wernham, Before the Armada: The Emergence of the English Nation, 14851588 (1966, reissued 1972), and The Making of Elizabethan Foreign Policy, 15581603 (1980). Thomas Woodrooffe, Vantage at Sea: England's Emergence as an Oceanic Power (1958), is an excellent treatment of the expansion. For the general European setting, see Lacey Baldwin Smith, The Horizon Book of the Elizabethan World (1967). L.A. Clarkson, The Pre-Industrial Economy in England, 15001750 (1971), provides an informative economic survey. Britain in the 17th century Documentary sources of the period are collected and commented upon in A. Browning (ed.), English Historical Documents, 16601714 (1953). Samuel Rawson Gardiner's magisterial work remains invaluable: his History of England from the Accession of James I to the Outbreak of the Civil War, 16031642, 10 vol. (186382), continued in History of the Great Civil War, 16421649, 3 vol. (188691), and History of the Commonwealth and Protectorate, 3 vol. (18941901), are available also in many later editions. Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James II, 5 vol. (184961), available in many later editions, some with modern commentary, is another brilliant classic and should be read for its literary rather than historical value. Other good single-volume treatments are Barry Coward, The Stuart Age: A History of England 16031714 (1980); and J.P. Kenyon, Stuart England, 2nd ed. (1985). A good introduction to the economic history of the period is found in C.G.A. Clay, Economic Expansion and Social Change: England 15001700, 2 vol. (1984). J.P. Sommerville, Politics and Ideology in England, 16031640 (1986), analyzes political theory; and Mark A. Kishlansky, Parliamentary Selection: Social and Political Choice in Early Modern England (1986), studies politics in practice. The early period of the century is analyzed in Conrad Russell, Parliaments and English Politics, 16211629 (1979); Richard Cust, The Forced Loan and English Politics, 16261628 (1987); and Nicholas Tyacke, Anti-Calvinists: The Rise of English Arminianism, c. 15901640 (1987). Lawrence Stone, The Causes of the English Revolution, 15291642 (1972, reissued 1986), is a classic introductory account, somewhat superseded by more specialized studies. J.S. Morrill, The Revolt of the Provinces: Conservatives and Radicals in the English Civil War, 16301650 (1976), is an important statement of the provincialist thesis. David Stevenson, The Scottish Revolution, 16371644: The Triumph of the Covenanters (1973), deals with the crises of the Bishop's Wars. C.V. Wedgwood, The Great Rebellion, 2 vol. (195558), remains the most readable account of the Civil Wars. Ronald Hutton, The Royalist War Effort 16421646 (1981); and Mark A. Kishlansky, The Rise of the New Model Army (1979), study military politics. An important analysis of the revolution is offered in David Underdown, Pride's Purge: Politics in the Puritan Revolution (1971, reissued 1985). Christopher Hill, The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution (1972, reissued 1984), sets out a Marxist interpretation. Ronald Hutton, The Restoration: A Political and Religious History of England and Wales, 16581667 (1985), examines the period of reestablishment of the monarchy, with all the ensuing confusion. A sustained political history is presented in David Ogg, England in the Reign of Charles II, 2nd ed., 2 vol. (1955, reissued 1984), and England in the Reign of James II and William III (1955, reissued 1984). Important specialized thematic analyses include C.D. Chandaman, The English Public Revenue, 16601688 (1975); John Miller, Popery and Politics in England, 16601688 (1973); J.R. Jones, The First Whigs: The Politics of the Exclusion Crisis, 16781683 (1961, reprinted 1985); and J.H. Plumb, The Growth of Political Stability in England: 16751725 (1967, reissued 1980; also published as The Origins of Political Stability, England, 16751725). J.R. Jones, The Revolution of 1688 in England (1972, reprinted 1984), is an excellent treatment of what was once called the Glorious Revolution. The period 170214 is masterfully explored in Geoffrey Holmes, British Politics in the Age of Anne, rev. ed. (1987). Mark A. Kishlansky Britain, 17141815 Documentary sources of the period are gathered in D.B. Horn and Mary Ransome (eds.), English Historical Documents, 17141783 (1957); and A. Aspinall and E. Anthony Smith (eds.), English Historical Documents, 17831832 (1959). The Oxford series offers Basil Williams, The Whig Supremacy, 17141760, 2nd rev. ed., edited by C.H. Stuart (1962, reprinted 1982); and J. Steven Watson, The Reign of George III, 17601815 (1960, reprinted 1981). The most accessible later introductions to the period include Roy Porter, English Society in the Eighteenth Century (1982); W.A. Speck, Stability and Strife: England, 17141760 (1977); Eric J. Evans, The Forging of the Modern State: Early Industrial Britain, 17831870 (1983); Paul Langford, The Eighteenth Century, 16881815 (1976); and John Cannon (ed.), The Whig Ascendancy: Colloquies on Hanoverian England (1981). Interesting information and strongly opinionated criticism of accepted historiographical and political thought on the period are found in J.C.D. Clark, English Society, 16881832: Ideology, Social Structure, and Political Practice During the Ancien Regime (1985). For surveys of Wales and Scotland in this period, see Philip Jenkins, The Making of a Ruling Class: The Glamorgan Gentry, 16401790 (1983), a broader study than its title suggests; David J.V. Jones, Before Rebecca: Popular Protests in Wales, 17931835 (1973); and Bruce Lenman, Integration, Enlightenment, and Industrialization: Scotland 17461832 (1981). On the Walpole era, see H.T. Dickinson, Walpole and the Whig Supremacy (1973); Jeremy Black (ed.), Britain in the Age of Walpole (1984); and, for the Opposition view, Linda Colley, In Defiance of Oligarchy: The Tory Party, 171460 (1982); and E.P. Thompson, Whigs and Hunters: The Origin of the Black Act (1975, reissued 1985). For the Pelhams, see John B. Owen, The Rise of the Pelhams (1957, reprinted 1971); and F.J. McLynn, The Jacobite Army in England, 1745: The Final Campaign (1983). Broader developments in British society at this time are explored in John Cannon, Aristocratic Century: The Peerage of Eighteenth-Century England (1984); G.A. Cranfield, The Development of the Provincial Newspaper, 17001760 (1962, reprinted 1978); P.J. Corfield, The Impact of English Towns, 17001800 (1982); and Neil McKendrick, John Brewer, and J.H. Plumb, The Birth of a Consumer Society: The Commercialization of Eighteenth-Century England (1982). The poor and the obscure are treated in Douglas Hay et al., Albion's Fatal Tree: Crime and Society in Eighteenth-Century England (1975); and Dorothy Marshall, The English Poor in the Eighteenth Century: A Study in Social and Administrative History (1926, reprinted 1969). Developments after 1754 are studied in Richard Middleton, The Bells of Victory: The Pitt-Newcastle Ministry and the Conduct of the Seven Years' War, 17571762 (1985); Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III, 2nd ed. (1957, reissued 1973); John Brewer, Party Ideology and Popular Politics at the Accession of George III (1976, reprinted 1981); John Cannon, Parliamentary Reform, 16401832 (1972); and Robert W. Tucker and David C. Hendrickson, The Fall of the First British Empire: Origins of the War of American Independence (1982), a detailed analysis of the imperial policy toward the American colonies, with a rather controversial critique of established historiographical views on the subject. Britain's recovery after the American Revolution is outlined in N.F.R. Crafts, British Economic Growth During the Industrial Revolution (1985); Linda Colley, The Apotheosis of George III: Loyalty, Royalty, and the British Nation, 17601820, in Past & Present, 102:94129 (February 1984); and E.P. Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class, new ed. (1968, reissued 1980). Britain's defeat of Napoleon and rise to world dominance is examined in Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000 (1987); Clive Emsley, British Society and the French Wars, 17931815 (1979); Ian R. Christie, Stress and Stability in Late Eighteenth-Century Britain: Reflection on the British Avoidance of Revolution (1984); and C.A. Bayly, Imperial Meridian: The British Empire and the World, 17801830 (1989). Linda J. Colley Britain, 18151914 For documentary sources of the period, see G.M. Young and W.D. Handcock (eds.), English Historical Documents, 18331874 (1956); and W.D. Handcock (ed.), English Historical Documents, 18741914 (1977). Elie Halevy, A History of the English People in the Nineteenth Century, 2nd rev. ed., 6 vol. in 7 (194952; originally published in French, 5 vol., 191232), offers an excellent, massive survey, although there is a mid-century gap in coverage. The Oxford series volumes are Llewellyn Woodward, The Age of Reform, 18151870, 2nd ed. (1962, reprinted 1979); and R.C.K. Ensor, England, 18701914 (1936, reprinted 1985). Other comprehensive histories include R.K. Webb, Modern England: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present, 2nd ed. (1980); G.M. Young, Portrait of an Age: Victorian England, new annotated ed. (1977); and Asa Briggs, The Age of Improvement (1959, reissued 1979). See also the same author's Victorian People: A Reassessment of Persons and Themes, 185167, rev. ed. (1973), Victorian Cities, new ed. (1968), and Victorian Things (1988). Walter E. Houghton, The Victorian Frame of Mind, 18301870 (1957); and Samuel Hynes, The Edwardian Turn of Mind (1968), observe cultural and intellectual life. Geoffrey Best, Mid-Victorian Britain, 18511875, rev. ed. (1973); and William L. Burn, The Age of Equipoise: A Study of the Mid-Victorian Generation (1964), focus on the middle period of the century. Economic conditions are surveyed in W.H.B. Court, A Concise Economic History of Britain, from 1750 to Recent Times (1954, reprinted 1967). Foreign relations, continental and colonial, and a shift in influence are discussed in R.W. Seton-Watson, Britain in Europe, 17891914: A Survey of Foreign Policy (1937, reprinted 1968); C.E. Carrington, The British Overseas: Exploits of a Nation of Shopkeepers, 2nd ed. (1968); Bernard Porter, Britain, Europe, and the World, 18501986: Delusions of Grandeur, 2nd ed. (1987); and Keith Robbins, The Eclipse of a Great Power: Modern Britain, 18701975 (1983). The transition from Victorian Britain to the 20th century is examined in Donald Read, Edwardian England, 190115 (1972). Lord Asa Briggs Britain since 1914 J.H. Bettey, English Historical Documents, 19061939 (1967), offers a selection of documentary sources. Detailed exploration of the first half of the 20th century is presented in A.J.P. Taylor, English History, 19141945 (1965, reissued 1985), from the Oxford series. Social conditions during World War I and its aftermath are examined in Arthur Marwick, The Deluge: British Society and the First World War (1965). Interwar politics are the focus of Charles Loch Mowat, Britain Between the Wars, 19181940 (1955, reissued 1971); and Bentley B. Gilbert, Britain Since 1918, 2nd rev. ed. (1980). Social and economic conditions before World War II are observed in Robert Graves and Alan Hodge, The Long Week-End: A Social History of Great Britain, 19181939 (1940, reissued 1985); and John Stevenson, British Society, 191445 (1984). F.S. Northedge, The Troubled Giant: Britain Among the Great Powers, 19161939 (1966), is a diplomatic history of the period. Political and social aspects of involvement in the war are analyzed in Paul Addison, The Road to 1945: British Politics and the Second World War (1975); and Angus Calder, The People's War: Britain, 19391945 (1969, reissued 1986). Paul Knaplund, Britain: Commonwealth and Empire, 19011955 (1956, reprinted 1974), treats the decline of the empire, including the first decade of postwar developments. Other histories reaching into the postwar years are W.N. Medlicott, British Foreign Policy Since Versailles, 19191963, 2nd rev. ed. (1968); Sidney Pollard, The Development of the British Economy, 19141980, 3rd ed. (1983); and Alfred F. Havighurst, Britain in Transition: The Twentieth Century, 4th ed. (1985). David Butler and Gareth Butler, British Political Facts, 19001985, 6th ed. (1986), is an informative reference source. C.J. Bartlett, A History of Postwar Britain, 19451974 (1977), is an informative, sustained narrative. Analyses of the postwar governments include Kenneth O. Morgan, Labour in Power, 19451951 (1984); and Peter Hennessy and Anthony Seldon (eds.), Ruling Performance: British Governments from Attlee to Thatcher (1987). Bentley Brinkerhoff Gilbert Administration and social conditions Government Central government Houses of Parliament (Westminster Palace) and Big Ben, London, from Westminster Bridge. The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy. The country's head of state is the reigning king or queen. The head of government is the prime minister, who is the leader of the majority political party in the House of Commons. The British constitution is partly unwritten and is flexible. Its basic sources are parliamentary and European Union legislation, the European Convention on Human Rights, and decisions by courts of law.