London 2012 Olympics is fast approaching, with new developments and plans causing huge excitement the world over. Yet, this multi-million pound corporate extravaganza could not be further from the realities of the 1948 'Austerity Games' which took place with London a bombed out ruin, Britain in deep economic crisis, and a world torn and dazed by six years of bitter conflict.

Bryan Sykes, the world’s first genetic archaeologist, takes us on a journey around the family tree of Britain and Ireland, to reveal how our tribal history still colours the country today.

Sept 07

Called an uneasy peace, the twenty years between the wars were a time of turmoil – Britain saw a general strike and the worst economic crisis in its history, armed rebellion in Ireland and open revolt in India, a Prime Minister’s resignation and the King’s abdication. Crisis followed crisis until Britain was engulfed in the Second World War – a catastrophe that could have been foreseen, possibly even prevented. But there were also moments of triumph: England regained the Ashes and Britain ran to glory in the ‘Chariots of Fire’ Olympic Games; the BBC was born and became the envy of the free world; there was a renaissance in poetry, sculpture of genius, and cinema lightened the darkness for millions.

An authoritative political history of one of the world's most important empires on the road to decolonisation. Ronald Hyam offers a major reassessment of the end of empire which combines a study of British policymaking with case studies on the experience of decolonization across Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.