British anti-invasion preparations of World War II entailed a large scale programme of military and civilian mobilisation in response to the threat of invasion by
German armed forces in 1940 and 1941. The army needed to recover from the defeat of the
British Expeditionary Force in
France and one and a half million men were enrolled as part-time soldiers in the
Home Guard. The rapid construction of
field fortifications transformed much of Britain, especially southern England, into a prepared battlefield. Short of heavy weapons and equipment, the British had to make the best use of whatever was available. The German invasion plan, known to English speakers as
Operation Sealion, was never taken beyond the preliminary assembly of forces stage. Today, very little remains of Britain's anti-invasion preparations. Only reinforced concrete structures such as pillboxes are common and even these have, until very recently, been unappreciated as historical monuments. (Full article...)
William Barley (1565?–1614) was an English bookseller and publisher. He completed an
apprenticeship as a
draper in 1587, but was soon working in the London book trade. As a freeman of the
Drapers' Company, he was embroiled in a dispute between it and the
Stationers' Company over the rights of drapers to function as publishers and booksellers. He found himself in legal tangles throughout his life. Barley's role in
Elizabethan music publishing has proved to be a contentious issue among scholars. The assessments of him range from "a man of energy, determination, and ambition", to "somewhat remarkable", to "surely to some extent a rather nefarious figure". His contemporaries harshly criticized the quality of two of the first works of music that he published, but he was also influential in his field. After becoming the
assignee of the composer and publisher
Thomas Morley, Barley published
Anthony Holborne's Pavans, Galliards, Almains (1599), the first work of music for instruments rather than voices to be printed in England. His partnership with Morley enabled him to claim a right to the music
publishing patent that Morley held prior to his death in 1602. Some publishers ignored his claim, however, and many music books printed during his later life gave him no recognition. (Full article...)
Image 4Mo Farah is the most successful British track athlete in modern Olympic Games history, winning the 5000 m and 10,000 m events at two Olympic Games. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 19King Edward's Chair in Westminster Abbey. A 13th-century wooden throne on which the
British monarch sits when he or she is crowned at the
coronation, swearing to uphold the law and the church. The monarchy is apolitical and impartial, with a largely symbolic role as head of state. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 30The
Notting Hill Carnival is Britain's biggest street festival. Led by members of the British African-Caribbean community, the annual carnival takes place in August and lasts three days. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 46One of Britain's oldest indigenous breeds, the
Bulldog is known as the national dog of Great Britain. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 47Welsh native
Roald Dahl is frequently ranked the best children's author in British polls.
Image 48William III and
Mary II Presenting the Cap of Liberty to Europe, 1716, Sir
James Thornhill. Enthroned in heaven with the Virtues behind them are the royals William and Mary who had taken the throne after the
Glorious Revolution and signed the
English Bill of Rights of 1689. William tramples on arbitrary power and hands the red cap of liberty to Europe where, unlike Britain,
absolute monarchy stayed the normal form of power execution. Below William is the French king
Louis XIV. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 54The Christmas Pantomime 1890.
Pantomime plays a prominent role in British culture during the Christmas and New Year season. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 63The
Oxford Union debate chamber. Called the "world's most prestigious debating society", the Oxford Union has hosted leaders and celebrities. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 68Emmeline Pankhurst. Named one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century by Time, Pankhurst was a leading figure in the suffragette movement. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 71Music hall evolved into variety shows. First performed in 1912, the Royal Variety Performance was first held at the
London Palladium (pictured) in 1941. Performed in front of members of the Royal Family, it is held annually in December and broadcast on television. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 75King
Alfred the Great statue in Winchester, Hampshire. The 9th-century English king encouraged education in his kingdom, and proposed that primary education be taught in
English, with those wishing to advance to holy orders to continue their studies in Latin. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 77Cricketer
W. G. Grace, with his long beard and MCC cap, was the most famous British sportsman in the Victorian era. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Beachy Head is a
chalk headland on the south coast of England, close to the town of
Eastbourne in the county of
East Sussex. The
cliff there is the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain, rising to 162 m (530 ft) above sea level. The peak allows views of the south east coast from
Dungeness to the east, to
Selsey Bill in the west.
Arlington Row, a row of
Cotswold stone cottages in Bibury,
Gloucestershire, England. Built in 1380 as a monastic wool store, the buildings were converted into weavers' cottages in the 17th century.
William Morris declared the village to be the most beautiful in England.
The "Hampden"
portrait of Elizabeth I of England was painted by the
Flemish artist
Steven van der Meulen in the mid to late 1560s.
Art historian Sir
Roy Strong has suggested that this is "one of a group produced in response to a crisis over the production of the royal image" as a number of old-fashioned and unflattering portraits of the queen were then in circulation. This is the earliest full-length (2 m or 7 ft tall) portrait of the young queen, and depicts her in red
satin trimmed with
pearls and
jewels. It represents a phase in the
portraiture of Elizabeth I before the emergence of
allegorical images representing the iconography of the "Virgin Queen". In November 2007 it was auctioned by
Sotheby's for ₤2.6 million, more than twice the maximum predicted.
Ophelia is an
oil painting on canvas completed by Sir
John Everett Millais between 1851 and 1852. It depicts the character
Ophelia, from
Shakespeare's play Hamlet, singing before she drowns in a river in
Denmark; this death scene is not seen onstage, but is instead described in a speech by
Queen Gertrude. The painting was completed in two stages: first, the setting (drawn from the
Hogsmill River in
Surrey) then Ophelia (portrayed by
Elizabeth Siddal). The painting is now owned by
Tate Britain and valued at more than £30 million.
Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was monarch of the three kingdoms of
England,
Scotland, and
Ireland from 1625 until his execution in 1649. The second son of
King James VI of Scotland, he spent most of his life in England after his father inherited the English throne in 1603. His reign was marked by quarrels with the
Parliament of England, which sought to curb his
royal prerogative. From 1642, Charles fought the armies of the English and Scottish parliaments in the
English Civil War. His defeat led to his execution, followed by establishment of a republic called the
Commonwealth of England.
The Chandos portrait is a famous painting believed to depict
William Shakespeare, and is named after
James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, who owned the portrait. It has not been possible to solve the question of who painted the portrait or whether it really depicts Shakespeare. However, in 2006 the
National Portrait Gallery in London concluded that the Chandos portrait was the most likely to be a representation of Shakespeare.
British anti-invasion preparations of World War II entailed a large scale programme of military and civilian mobilisation in response to the threat of invasion by
German armed forces in 1940 and 1941. The army needed to recover from the defeat of the
British Expeditionary Force in
France and one and a half million men were enrolled as part-time soldiers in the
Home Guard. The rapid construction of
field fortifications transformed much of Britain, especially southern England, into a prepared battlefield. Short of heavy weapons and equipment, the British had to make the best use of whatever was available. The German invasion plan, known to English speakers as
Operation Sealion, was never taken beyond the preliminary assembly of forces stage. Today, very little remains of Britain's anti-invasion preparations. Only reinforced concrete structures such as pillboxes are common and even these have, until very recently, been unappreciated as historical monuments. (Full article...)
William Barley (1565?–1614) was an English bookseller and publisher. He completed an
apprenticeship as a
draper in 1587, but was soon working in the London book trade. As a freeman of the
Drapers' Company, he was embroiled in a dispute between it and the
Stationers' Company over the rights of drapers to function as publishers and booksellers. He found himself in legal tangles throughout his life. Barley's role in
Elizabethan music publishing has proved to be a contentious issue among scholars. The assessments of him range from "a man of energy, determination, and ambition", to "somewhat remarkable", to "surely to some extent a rather nefarious figure". His contemporaries harshly criticized the quality of two of the first works of music that he published, but he was also influential in his field. After becoming the
assignee of the composer and publisher
Thomas Morley, Barley published
Anthony Holborne's Pavans, Galliards, Almains (1599), the first work of music for instruments rather than voices to be printed in England. His partnership with Morley enabled him to claim a right to the music
publishing patent that Morley held prior to his death in 1602. Some publishers ignored his claim, however, and many music books printed during his later life gave him no recognition. (Full article...)
Image 4Mo Farah is the most successful British track athlete in modern Olympic Games history, winning the 5000 m and 10,000 m events at two Olympic Games. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 19King Edward's Chair in Westminster Abbey. A 13th-century wooden throne on which the
British monarch sits when he or she is crowned at the
coronation, swearing to uphold the law and the church. The monarchy is apolitical and impartial, with a largely symbolic role as head of state. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 30The
Notting Hill Carnival is Britain's biggest street festival. Led by members of the British African-Caribbean community, the annual carnival takes place in August and lasts three days. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 46One of Britain's oldest indigenous breeds, the
Bulldog is known as the national dog of Great Britain. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 47Welsh native
Roald Dahl is frequently ranked the best children's author in British polls.
Image 48William III and
Mary II Presenting the Cap of Liberty to Europe, 1716, Sir
James Thornhill. Enthroned in heaven with the Virtues behind them are the royals William and Mary who had taken the throne after the
Glorious Revolution and signed the
English Bill of Rights of 1689. William tramples on arbitrary power and hands the red cap of liberty to Europe where, unlike Britain,
absolute monarchy stayed the normal form of power execution. Below William is the French king
Louis XIV. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 54The Christmas Pantomime 1890.
Pantomime plays a prominent role in British culture during the Christmas and New Year season. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 63The
Oxford Union debate chamber. Called the "world's most prestigious debating society", the Oxford Union has hosted leaders and celebrities. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 68Emmeline Pankhurst. Named one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century by Time, Pankhurst was a leading figure in the suffragette movement. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 71Music hall evolved into variety shows. First performed in 1912, the Royal Variety Performance was first held at the
London Palladium (pictured) in 1941. Performed in front of members of the Royal Family, it is held annually in December and broadcast on television. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 75King
Alfred the Great statue in Winchester, Hampshire. The 9th-century English king encouraged education in his kingdom, and proposed that primary education be taught in
English, with those wishing to advance to holy orders to continue their studies in Latin. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 77Cricketer
W. G. Grace, with his long beard and MCC cap, was the most famous British sportsman in the Victorian era. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Beachy Head is a
chalk headland on the south coast of England, close to the town of
Eastbourne in the county of
East Sussex. The
cliff there is the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain, rising to 162 m (530 ft) above sea level. The peak allows views of the south east coast from
Dungeness to the east, to
Selsey Bill in the west.
Arlington Row, a row of
Cotswold stone cottages in Bibury,
Gloucestershire, England. Built in 1380 as a monastic wool store, the buildings were converted into weavers' cottages in the 17th century.
William Morris declared the village to be the most beautiful in England.
The "Hampden"
portrait of Elizabeth I of England was painted by the
Flemish artist
Steven van der Meulen in the mid to late 1560s.
Art historian Sir
Roy Strong has suggested that this is "one of a group produced in response to a crisis over the production of the royal image" as a number of old-fashioned and unflattering portraits of the queen were then in circulation. This is the earliest full-length (2 m or 7 ft tall) portrait of the young queen, and depicts her in red
satin trimmed with
pearls and
jewels. It represents a phase in the
portraiture of Elizabeth I before the emergence of
allegorical images representing the iconography of the "Virgin Queen". In November 2007 it was auctioned by
Sotheby's for ₤2.6 million, more than twice the maximum predicted.
Ophelia is an
oil painting on canvas completed by Sir
John Everett Millais between 1851 and 1852. It depicts the character
Ophelia, from
Shakespeare's play Hamlet, singing before she drowns in a river in
Denmark; this death scene is not seen onstage, but is instead described in a speech by
Queen Gertrude. The painting was completed in two stages: first, the setting (drawn from the
Hogsmill River in
Surrey) then Ophelia (portrayed by
Elizabeth Siddal). The painting is now owned by
Tate Britain and valued at more than £30 million.
Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was monarch of the three kingdoms of
England,
Scotland, and
Ireland from 1625 until his execution in 1649. The second son of
King James VI of Scotland, he spent most of his life in England after his father inherited the English throne in 1603. His reign was marked by quarrels with the
Parliament of England, which sought to curb his
royal prerogative. From 1642, Charles fought the armies of the English and Scottish parliaments in the
English Civil War. His defeat led to his execution, followed by establishment of a republic called the
Commonwealth of England.
The Chandos portrait is a famous painting believed to depict
William Shakespeare, and is named after
James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, who owned the portrait. It has not been possible to solve the question of who painted the portrait or whether it really depicts Shakespeare. However, in 2006 the
National Portrait Gallery in London concluded that the Chandos portrait was the most likely to be a representation of Shakespeare.