How much do you really know about the history of the United Kingdom? What passes for “British history” is, all too often, merely the history of England with bits of the histories of Scotland, Wales and Ireland tacked on when they affected events in England.
In a radio interview some years ago, the BBC presenter Nicky Campbell put it to me that, fun though the Romans or Tudors might be, only history nerds are interested in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. “You say that because you’re in London,” I replied. “You wouldn’t say it if you were in Belfast.”
It only takes a short stroll through Belfast to see why. Unionist streets are famous for their colourful murals of the protestant hero William of Orange riding his white horse into battle above the words: “Remember 1690!” That was the year of his victory over the catholic James II at the Battle of the Boyne.
