From Boudicca's marauding hordes in the first century to the suicide bombers
in 2005, Britain has been subjected to a barrage of blows. Sometimes the danger
has come from internal or external enemies, sometimes from the forces of nature
or as a result of human error. In this book, John Withington paints a picture of
Britain bloodied but unbowed through war, terrorism, invasion, rebellion,
massacre, fire, flood, storm, plague, shipwreck and train crashes.
Many of the disasters of modern Britain are not unique, but rather cases of
history repeating itself. The first major act of terrorism took place in the
1860s. The Black Death that carried off perhaps a third of the population in the
fourteenth century first devastated Britain at least seven centuries earlier.
The flu epidemic that killed hundreds of thousands of Britons at the end of the
First World War - the King and the Prime Minister both caught it but recovered -
had echoes of an epidemic which occurred at the end of the Wars of the Roses,
nearly half a millennium earlier.
Floods have been recorded in Britain since before the fourteenth century -
the worst one so far occurring in 1607 when 2000 people were drowned. In 1677 a
disgruntled blacksmith's apprentice set fire to his master's premises in revenge
for a beating and 130 houses went up in smoke. In the 1970s young boys were also
responsible for a major fire, albeit unintentionally. While enjoying an illicit
cigarette, they set fire to a leisure centre on the Isle of Man. Fifty-one
people died.
Through detailed stories and fascinating anecdotes, John Withington brings to
life the events and their consequences. This is a compulsively readable
catalogue of the worst things that have happened in britain, and of the
remarkable resilience of the British people.
Contents:
Part 1: Hostile Action
1. War and Invasion
2. Rebellion and Riot
3. Repression and Massacre
4. Air Raids
5. Terrorism
Part 2: Accidents
6. Fires Waiting to Happen
7. Fetch the Engines
8. Crushes and Collapses
9. Explosions
10. Mining Disasters
11. Shipwrecks
12. Train Crashes
13. Air Crashes
Part 3: Acts of God
14. Plague
15. Cholera and Flu
16. Storms
17. Earthquake, Famine and Flood
Bibliography
Index
