1702 - 1760, The First British Empire

The award-winning story of Britain, from the arrival of Julius Caesar in 55BC to the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. 'Wonderful; This Sceptred Isle has provided one of the greatest treats for listeners in recent years.' Paul Donovan, Sunday Times. Queen Anne was the last of the Stuart monarchs. In her twelve years on the throne she became the last monarch to veto an Act of Parliament. Scotland was officially united with England and Wales, and the Duke of Marlborough - Churchill's most illustrious ancestor - became a national hero in winning the Battle of Blenheim. When Anne died without an heir, Great Britain acquired its first Hanoverian king - George the First. The reigns of the first two Georges witnessed the first great financial scandal - the South Sea Bubble - and the rise of Robert Walpole, the man usually called Britain's first Prime Minister. Rule Britannia and God Save the King came into the national repertoire, gin and grog came into the national drinks cabinet and William Pitt the Elder, Bonnie Prince Charlie and Clive of India all found their way to centre stage.