213. Carson honoured, Churchill mocked
A History of England13 Okt 2024

213. Carson honoured, Churchill mocked

We start this episode with the unveiling of the statue of Edward Carson at Stormont Castle in Northern Ireland. It rather makes the point that a man who helped organise an armed force against British law, and even to call on British soldiers to mutiny rather than fire on rebels – no doubt because to him and his friend they were the right kind of rebels – could get away with such behaviour if he had the backing of the right circles of power back in England.

Not just get away with it, in fact, but be honoured with a statue.

From there, we move to India where a man like Gandhi kept finding himself being gaoled by the British authorities for actions far less noxious than Carson’s. A brown-skinned Hindu simply couldn’t be allowed to call on action against the rule of the British government, even if that action was far less subversive of the law than what the white-skinned Protestant Carson had championed.

As it happens, the National government in Britain was beginning to consider the possibility of granting a little more autonomy to India, though nothing like as much as enjoyed by white-ruled holdings, such as Australia or Canada, which enjoyed Dominion Status, giving them almost independence. That was far too little for Gandhi, or for Clement Attlee and his Labour Party. On the other hand, it was far too much for Winston Churchill. He fought the government all the way to the point, by the end, of becoming something of a figure of fun in the House of Commons.

No one proved that better than his chief tormentor, Leo Amery, despite being a fellow Conservative and a contemporary of his at Harrow school. He used mockery against him in a way that Churchill himself might have been proud of had he used it himself.

But the real danger for Churchill was that he was perilously close to becoming a bore.


Illustration: the Carson statue outside the home of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Stormont Castle, outside Belfast.


Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License


Avsnitt(252)

3. A bit of a mess

3. A bit of a mess

At last, Henry VIII's wish could be fulfilled. He left the throne to his son. A male heir, just what he'd always wanted. Well, it wasn't that simple, First of all, Edward VI was only 9 when he came to the throne. Real power was exercised by a Regency Council that was - and this may shock you - not massively competent and rather more concerned with its own interests than with the nation's. What's more, Edward was England's first definitively Protestant monarch. A second shock for you will be to discover that a zealot for the oher side could be just much of a vandal as his enemies on the other. The illustration is a 19th century engraving of Edward VI, ©Georgios Kollidas/123RF.COM

29 Nov 20207min

2. The Wives of Henry VIII

2. The Wives of Henry VIII

We got to know Henry VIII a bit in chapter 1. We also talked a little about his wives, and it seems only right that we think about them a bit more now, especially since having a lot of wives is what Henry's best known for. So chapter 2 takes a look at their stories, at why Henry married them (well, the other reasons, apart from his attraction to young women), and to what extent he hit his objective. And, to surprise and amuse us all, we end with an unusual example of foresight and enlightened thinking from a monarch generally better known for self-serving authoritarianism. The picture is a detail of a British stamp showing the face of Catherine Howard, the wife who was rather too free with her charms for the taste of of her husband. ©Andy Lidstone/123RF.COM Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.

24 Nov 202013min

A History of England (Trailer)

A History of England (Trailer)

21 Nov 202036s

1. Bloody Henry

1. Bloody Henry

Welcome to A History of England. As well as the podcast, there's a series of accompanying booklets, available as a paperback or a Kindle download. The first, covering episodes 1-35, is available on Amazon now. Just look for David Beeson A History of England. We can't get started without taking a moment to acknowledge the Spanish journalist and novelist, Arturo Perez Reverte. It was his Una Historia d'España, A History of Spain that inspired me to make this series. I like the idea of really short chapters, which I've imitated. I like the use of a normal sort of language,  and not fine, carefully modulated diction. But above all, what I liked was the idea of A history and not The history of the nation. I make no pretence at writing some academic tome. I make no pretence of academic detachment. I do make a pretence, or rather the attempt, to get the facts as right as possible. However, it's a particular view. Above all, it's less about discovering what England did at any particular point over the last few centuries, as about understanding how, by doing it, England got Britain to where it is today.  Let's get started. With, sensibly enough, Chapter One. It's dedicated to Henry VIII or, as I think of him, Bloody Henry. Picture: ©Satori/123RF.COM Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.

19 Nov 202012min

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