The Things That Made England

The Things That Made England

By David Crowther and Roifield BrownSociety & CultureHistory
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The Things That Made England episodes

  • Magna Carta
    Magna Carta has a reputation as one of the foundational documents in the development of the rights of the individual and in limiting he powers of monarchs. What does it actually say? And does it deserve its reputation?

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    25 min
  • Margaret Thatcher
    Margaret Thatcher, 13 October 1925 – 8 April 2013 was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the UK from 1979 to 1990. The longest-serving prime minister of the 20th century she was the first woman to hold that office. A Soviet journalist dubbed her the Iron Lady. As Prime Minister, she implemented policies that came to be known as Thatcherism. Roifield proposes that her tenure kicks starts English and Scottish nationalism.

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    56 min
  • The Longbow
    For a while, from the 13th to 15th centuries, the king of England possessed a military tool that no other nation appeared to be able to imitate. The argument is whether it had any lasting impact of why England is as she is.

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    29 min
  • The Suit
    The modern suit was founded in the industrial revolution in the late 18th century in London. Mens clothing moved away from the elaborately embroidered and jewelled formality of the 18th century into the simpler and more elegant clothing of the British Regency period, which gradually evolved to the stark formality of the Victorian period. It was in the search for more comfort that the loosening of rules gave rise in the late 19th century to the modern two piece suit.

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    38 min
  • Cricket
    The greatest game invented by the human race. Surely a simple decision?

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    26 min
  • HP Sauce
    This week Roifield and David discuss the most English of condiments, HP or Brown sauce that is fighting to keep all manner of fancy BBQ and other foreign sauces from invading our English dining tables!

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    31 min
  • The Flag of St George
    Where does the flag of St George come from and why is it England's national flag? Is it a symbol of unity or division, why is there relatively little flag waving in England and should we be waving it more? And most importantly - does it go in the cabinet as one of the things that made England?

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    29 min
  • Dunkirk

    The Battle of Dunkirk was a military operation that took place in Dunkirk, France, at the Second World War which as come to define 20th Century England. The battle was fought between the Allies and Germany, as part of the Battle of France. The Battle of Dunkirk was the defence and evacuation to Britain of British and other Allied forces in Europe from 26 May to 4 June 1940, something that was seen as miraculous a that time. The War Cabinet under Winston Churchill the newly appointed as the Prime Minister was deeply divided with what to do during the German encirclement of the BEF, with Viscount Halifax, the Foreign Secretary believing that in view of the imminent Fall of France that the United Kingdom should explore the possibility of a negotiated peace settlement with Adolf Hitler


    Proposition – why should it go on the cabinet?

    Why should the Dunkirk go into the cabinet?


    1. The it marks a change of how the English perceive themselves that is still with us today
    2. It gives us “Little Englanders”
    3. National Myth building - a thousand little boats
    4. it gave us the term Dunkirk Spirit

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    42 min
  • Ska
    Roifield presents the proposition that Ska is not just important because it's the one musical form everyone can dance to.

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    31 min
  • English Accents
    Are English accents a joy and delight, a sign of rich diversity or irritating and divisive? And what is it about the Midlands that makes everyone think they can ignore it? Luke tells us what you all thought of Ska

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    24 min

About The Things That Made England

From the publisher's feed

An affectionate meandering through the things that make England the way she is – from HP Sauce to the Allottment, Aethelstan to the politics of Queuing. With Luke Baxter, Roifield Brown, David…