Sparks Commentary

In  America , Ken Burns once said something interesting about American history . That is, he said that the history of the  United States  i...

The eighteenth century was a crucial period for the  British Empire . It saw the birth of the “Kingdom of Great Britain” itself , in the 17...

In the seventeenth century , Thomas Hobbes gave the most powerful argument ever written for the necessity of some form of government. His o...

“… all and every person and persons, who shall or may take or inherit the said Crown, by virtue of the limitation of this present act, and i...

John Locke’s “Two Treatises of Government” is one of the greatest political works ever written. It had a massive influence on the founding d...

In 1986, there were two versions of “The Story of English” – a television series, and a book. I never got to see much of the television seri...

“In every generation the Irish people have asserted their right to national freedom and sovereignty; six times during the past three hundr...

“ ♪ Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves. And Britons never, never, never shall be slaves. ♪ ” – “Rule, Britannia!” (1740) , a B...

“ … That [the] said Country or Dominion of Wales shall be, stand and continue for ever from henceforth incorporated, united and annexed ...

"God save our gracious King! Long live our noble King! God save the King ! Send him victorious, Happy and glorious, Long to rei...

“... t here was not one single hide, nor a yard [endnote] of land, nay, moreover (it is shameful to tell, though he thought it no shame t...

"In this Act the expression 'Dominion'  means any of the following Dominions, that is to say, the Dominion of Canada, the Commo...

" ... the said kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland shall, upon the first day of January, which shall be in the year of our lord on...

"That the Two Kingdoms of  Scotland and England  shall upon the first day of May next ensuing the date hereof and forever after be  U...

"That the two Kingdoms of  England and Scotland  shall upon the First day of May which shall be in the year One thousand seven hundre...

The English Civil War was a war over ideas, much like the American Revolution ... The British historian  Simon Schama  once said that th...

On both sides of the Atlantic (particularly in the English-speaking world), there is still a great deal of interest in  Winston Churchill ...

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." - William Shakespeare 's "...