During the 20th century, Britain underwent a major transformation. A country in which a law-abiding individual would hardly notice the existence of the state had become one in which, from the cradle to the grave, no one could avoid it. An empire controlling the destiny of one-quarter of the human race, having no allies because she needed none, had become an offshore island with an ambiguous relationship towards the Continent. How did this come about and what were its consequences?
Vernon Bogdanor, CBE, FBA is a professor of government at Oxford University, England, a fellow of Brasenose College, and Emeritus Professor of Law at Gresham College.
He is one of Britain's foremost constitutional experts and has written extensively on political and constitutional issues.
Island, western Europe. It is the largest island in Europe, comprising England, Scotland, and Wales and covering 88,787 sq mi (229,957 sq km). With Northern Ireland, it constitutes the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Less formally, the names Great Britain and Britain are used to refer to the entire United Kingdom.