THESE SCEPTER'D ISLES

Relations between the countries that make up our United Kingdom have always shifted, just like the roiling seas that surround them. A new book recalls the colourful, contested past of an island nation... and nods to future friction

- By Brian Groom

ARE we about to see yet another shift in the ever-changing relationship between the nations that make up Britain and Ireland? These isles — encompassing England, Scotland, the Irish Republic, Northern Ireland and Wales, along with the Isle of Man and bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey — have been a work in progress since the first humans set foot on them at least 900,000 years ago.

Their history has been a kaleidoscope of overlapping and conflicting identities, as I write about in my new book, These Isles: A People’s History of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

There is little agreement even on what they are called. A common term is the “British Isles”, though that is widely rejected in the Republic of Ireland.

Alternative terms include Britain and Ireland, Atlantic Archipelago, Anglo-Celtic Isles, British-Irish Isles and Islands of the North Atlantic. Diplomatic documents drawn up jointly by the UK and Irish governments refer simply to “these islands”.

Their inhabitants made their mark in many fields, notably by pioneering the Industrial Revolution, which brought massive economic opportunities, wrenching social change and long-term environmental issues. They also created history’s largest Empire, covering almost a quarter of the globe, with consequences that remain with us today.

Emigration and Empire created a huge diaspora: the number who can claim descent from British or Irish emigrants has been estimated at 200 million, almost treble the isles’ current population of around 75 million — with concentrations in Australia, Canada and the US.