Oxford historian Norman Davies challenges the traditional picture of 1,000 years of 'eternal England' and considers the history of the British in the light of parallel events on the continent. He looks at four countries England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales constantly buffeted by continental storms and repeatedly transformed by them. In the later chapters he analyses the rise and decline of 'Britishness'. Davies also questions the teaching of history in Britain today and asks why the curriculum begins with the Romans and not Celts, who peopled the isles long before Caesar's army landed on the South Coast.