The British weren't always imperial global players with an empire of viceroys, redcoats and industrialised trade systems. The early years of the British Empire were actually pretty chaotic; for the English in the 17th century, it was a period of exploration, rugged individuals, private companies, pirates, misadventure and failure.

Dan is joined by David Veevers, historian of Early Modern History at the University of Bangor, to explore those tumultuous early years, how the English moved into new lands, the challenges they faced, how they interacted, cooperated with, attempted to subjugate and were resisted by the indigenous peoples they found. 

David's book is called The Great Defiance: How the World Took on the British Empire

Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Teän Stewart-Murray.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code DANSNOW - sign up at https://historyhit.com/subscription/.

We'd love to hear from you - what do you want to hear an episode on? You can email the podcast at [email protected].

You can take part in our listener survey here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.