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All the Countries: And the Few We Never Got Round To
Packed with thought-provoking and intriguing facts, an entertaining look at the UK's imperial past as you've never seen it before
Out of 193 countries that are currently UN member states, the UK has invaded or fought conflicts in the territory of 171. That’s not far off a massive, jaw-dropping 90 percent. Not too many Britons know that the UK invaded Iran in World War II with the Soviets. You can be fairly sure a lot more Iranians do. Or what about the time they arrived with elephants to invade Ethiopia? Every summer, hordes of British tourists now occupy Corfu and the other Ionian islands. Find out how they first invaded them armed with cannons instead of cameras and set up the United States of the Ionian Islands. Think the Philippines have always been outside their zone of influence? Think again. Read the surprising story of their 18th century occupation of Manila and how they demanded a ransom of millions of dollars for the city. This book takes a look at some of the truly awe-inspiring ways the UK has been a force, for good and for bad, right across the world. A lot of people are vaguely aware that a quarter of the globe was once pink, but that’s not even half the story. They're a dynamic and irrepressible nation, and this is how they changed the world, often when it didn't ask to be changed!
Out of 193 countries that are currently UN member states, the UK has invaded or fought conflicts in the territory of 171. That’s not far off a massive, jaw-dropping 90 percent. Not too many Britons know that the UK invaded Iran in World War II with the Soviets. You can be fairly sure a lot more Iranians do. Or what about the time they arrived with elephants to invade Ethiopia? Every summer, hordes of British tourists now occupy Corfu and the other Ionian islands. Find out how they first invaded them armed with cannons instead of cameras and set up the United States of the Ionian Islands. Think the Philippines have always been outside their zone of influence? Think again. Read the surprising story of their 18th century occupation of Manila and how they demanded a ransom of millions of dollars for the city. This book takes a look at some of the truly awe-inspiring ways the UK has been a force, for good and for bad, right across the world. A lot of people are vaguely aware that a quarter of the globe was once pink, but that’s not even half the story. They're a dynamic and irrepressible nation, and this is how they changed the world, often when it didn't ask to be changed!
256 pages, Paperback
First published February 29, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
July 21, 2014
Reading this book was an absolutely horrible experience.
Not only is this 'historian' doing history in an embarrassingly amateurish way, but his entire take on Britain's colonial endeavours is painfully shallow and so old-fashioned as to be positively distasteful.
He seems to be aware of that, for he is incessantly apologising throughout for the ill quality of the book; his excuses do not half make up for it, though.
What struck me as definitely the worst, most blood-boiling part of this book was the fact that he is constantly, albeit insidiously, glorifying Britain's colonial excursions and downplaying its innumerable bad effects; not only that, but he seems to take it for granted that all Britons want part in this hideous exercise of his, and is forever making use of the offensive adjective 'we' when talking of bloodthirsty British warlords making their way across the world, trampling as they do so over the skulls drenched in blood of the unsuspecting natives of the lands they conquer. The memory of colonial oppression is desecrated.
In addition to all that, he uses UN countries to tally the regions Britain has invaded in the past, quite forgetting that for every 10-20-30 countries in existence today there was just one region. Surely there is too much room for overlap of borders if that is taken into consideration.
The only comforting thought re this book is that my mum picked it up casually without much thought as it was on sale for an excellent price, although I am wont to admit that it is not deserving of even the miserly 3 quid that was paid for it.
Not only is this 'historian' doing history in an embarrassingly amateurish way, but his entire take on Britain's colonial endeavours is painfully shallow and so old-fashioned as to be positively distasteful.
He seems to be aware of that, for he is incessantly apologising throughout for the ill quality of the book; his excuses do not half make up for it, though.
What struck me as definitely the worst, most blood-boiling part of this book was the fact that he is constantly, albeit insidiously, glorifying Britain's colonial excursions and downplaying its innumerable bad effects; not only that, but he seems to take it for granted that all Britons want part in this hideous exercise of his, and is forever making use of the offensive adjective 'we' when talking of bloodthirsty British warlords making their way across the world, trampling as they do so over the skulls drenched in blood of the unsuspecting natives of the lands they conquer. The memory of colonial oppression is desecrated.
In addition to all that, he uses UN countries to tally the regions Britain has invaded in the past, quite forgetting that for every 10-20-30 countries in existence today there was just one region. Surely there is too much room for overlap of borders if that is taken into consideration.
The only comforting thought re this book is that my mum picked it up casually without much thought as it was on sale for an excellent price, although I am wont to admit that it is not deserving of even the miserly 3 quid that was paid for it.
May 22, 2022
easy going read but the writing style wasn't the best though
November 22, 2019
I was inclined to give this book only 1 star, as the author's prose and writing transitions are weak and his analysis shallow. Laycock has some difficulty seeing the forest of British imperialism for the trees of military history. But some of the trees are fascinating. Laycock includes here some mildly amusing jokes, e.g. "Fighting in France and Belgium [during WWI] was mostly a hugely grim experience, but at least there weren't that many crocodiles around." He has an eye for memorable names and titles, as in this sentence on Bhutanese political history: "The Dzongpon of Punakha had established his own Druk Desi as rival to the established Druk Desi." (A bit Orientalist, perhaps, but resonant nonetheless). And there is a lot of fascinating trivia. Before reading this book I didn't know that there was a Celtic British colony in sixth-century Spain; that Anglo-Saxon exiles joined the Varangian Guard after the Norman Conquest; that during the Crimean War, British squadrons attacked Russian forts and ships in the Baltic Sea and attempted to take Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula; that from the 1840s to the 1940s the Rajahs of Sarawak were actually Englishmen (James Brooke and his descendents); that after the First World War, British occupation troops were stationed in Germany, until 1930; that in the Lebanon-Syria campaign of 1941, one of the British fighter pilots was Roald Dahl; that the most far-flung Japanese military operation of WWII involved several midget submarines which attacked a British battleship on the coast of Madagascar in 1942; and that after WWII British, Indian, and re-armed Japanese troops fought together against the Viet Minh in French Indochina.
Finally, while I've accused Laycock of shallow analysis, he does cleverly characterize the British Empire as "the last and by far the most successful of the Viking Kingdoms," whose maritime adventurers left "a land of limited agricultural space with an often unattractive climate and sail[ed] away in search of loot." That will do for now.
Finally, while I've accused Laycock of shallow analysis, he does cleverly characterize the British Empire as "the last and by far the most successful of the Viking Kingdoms," whose maritime adventurers left "a land of limited agricultural space with an often unattractive climate and sail[ed] away in search of loot." That will do for now.
April 21, 2020
This wasn’t great, so I’ll keep this short - the book seems to trivialise imperialism and is littered with bad jokes and in various places suggests strange reasons for our invasions, including things like weather.
Could be an interesting topic area to cover but obviously it is far too broad to be covered in just over 200 pages and this book doesn’t do a brilliant job.
Could be an interesting topic area to cover but obviously it is far too broad to be covered in just over 200 pages and this book doesn’t do a brilliant job.
January 15, 2019
The only thing I can say in defense of the author is that he did explain what his definition of "country" and "invasion" are in the introduction.
The book is very poorly written, in terms of style the biggest hangup for me is that the author tries to be funny in the obnoxious kind of way only a loud drunken lad on holiday would find amusing, and I guess that's the target demographic. Going on a multi-country trip? Why not take this book with you and impress all the locals with your "knowledge" of how you invaded them.
The list is neither chronological nor geographical, sadly it is in alphabetical order which destroys any reading flow. Again, the only way this can make sense is if you have no intention of reading the whole thing and you're just bringing it along as a reference for some fun (and very incorrect) triva on holiday.
Lastly and most importantly, the facts are just wrong. A naval blockade is not an invasion. A bombing campaign is not an invasion. But hey, never let the facts get in the way of a good story!
The book is very poorly written, in terms of style the biggest hangup for me is that the author tries to be funny in the obnoxious kind of way only a loud drunken lad on holiday would find amusing, and I guess that's the target demographic. Going on a multi-country trip? Why not take this book with you and impress all the locals with your "knowledge" of how you invaded them.
The list is neither chronological nor geographical, sadly it is in alphabetical order which destroys any reading flow. Again, the only way this can make sense is if you have no intention of reading the whole thing and you're just bringing it along as a reference for some fun (and very incorrect) triva on holiday.
Lastly and most importantly, the facts are just wrong. A naval blockade is not an invasion. A bombing campaign is not an invasion. But hey, never let the facts get in the way of a good story!
December 24, 2014
This is what my grandmother would probably call a "loo book". It's a very short chapter on every country that the UK has invaded: how we invaded it, what happened, and (in most cases) when we lost interest in it. As such, it's rather bitty, isn't a good long read, and is one of those books best left in the bathroom for a quick chapter while you, you know, need something to read. But we've Facebook for that these days, haven't we? I'm dipping into this from time to time, but it's not one I plan to finish any year soon.
January 11, 2016
When I saw the title of this book I thought it'd be about the reasons for invading various countries and the consequences of the invasions. Well, I was wrong. It's about random people that invaded random countries (as the countries are listed alphabetically, which sounds ridiculous, but it is just as well for the ridiculous approach of the book).
Also, the author mentions in the foreword that he doesn't want to pass any moral judgment on the invasions. He managed that splendidly - if anything, he's been proud about them.
Also, the author mentions in the foreword that he doesn't want to pass any moral judgment on the invasions. He managed that splendidly - if anything, he's been proud about them.
November 2, 2019
Misleading title
June 29, 2018
A little disappointing, a lot of the descriptions are relatively dry, and the book doesn’t have much room to go into the detail I wanted. I learned some interesting facts like the British invasion of Japan and the war we won against the Viet Minh, but some of the criteria for invasion (especially Brazil) were very flimsy, and some of the (admittedly expected) colonial apologia was annoying. Probably better as a reference book than reading from A-Z.
July 27, 2022
Duller than expected
The title made it sound as though this could be riveting, sadly no follow-though. Its exactly what it says on the cover - a list of all the countries Britain has seen military action in and brief descriptions of what happened. This could have been a great read with some effort. Unfortunately, the text is bland and reads like a high school textbook. Not a book I expect to excite anyone to try and find out more about individual campaigns.
The title made it sound as though this could be riveting, sadly no follow-though. Its exactly what it says on the cover - a list of all the countries Britain has seen military action in and brief descriptions of what happened. This could have been a great read with some effort. Unfortunately, the text is bland and reads like a high school textbook. Not a book I expect to excite anyone to try and find out more about individual campaigns.
December 25, 2017
I had high hopes when I picked this up but failed to note that it's simply an alphabetical list of countries. With no themes or grouping, it is a mess of sequential continent-hopping that was entertaining in places but ultimately tiring.
Read
January 19, 2013Good read, just the right level of detail to inspire other readers to dig a little deeper into some of these forgotten aspects of British history.
June 1, 2020
dont try so hard to be funny
February 11, 2023
Currently available on Kindle Unlimited, this lightweight history book makes for a quick but somewhat shallow read. Narrated in a laddish, jocular tone most suited to pub quiz trivia, this does not pretend to be a rigorous academic work in any way. It’s just the answer to a straightforward kid’s question, i.e. what countries have “we” (Brits and colonials) invaded? And it’s a bit amateurish, being in need of a proofread and a formatting check.
On the one hand, the response to the question takes some punkish pride in the fact that this little island has managed to antagonise just about every other nation on the planet more than once. On the other, the response shows how disastrous most of the military actions were, contrary to the official line or confirming the official silence, and demonstrates that “we” really had no business being in the places “we” invaded.
The point being that “we” don’t really know “our” own history and “we” shouldn’t be too surprised to find that most other countries of the world have good reason to be suspicious of, and downright hostile to, “us”. Much has been done by the government of England and then Britain in “our” name that “we” wouldn’t really wish to be associated with.
That aside, the book doesn’t go into any analysis of the impact or consequences of these actions. It is self-described as a starting point for further research. It that sense it delivers, as many of these historical episodes are indeed very obscure and deserving of further enquiry. I have learnt a lot reading it.
But the trivialising, flippant, self-deprecating humour gets old fast. I suppose it’s aimed as a parody counterpoint to the glorious histories taught in school and usually laced with jingoism, but it gets offensive by glossing over the miseries inflicted on local populations. Equating military action with modern tourism is particularly grating.
The alphabetical country by country presentation, whilst fitting the book’s intent, makes for a confusing, often repetitive, and sometimes frustrating read, as invariably an important bit of the story at hand is to be found under another entry elsewhere and there are no hyperlinks to help navigate. The old school succession of dates and names with little or no context also gets old after a while.
This is the first history book I’ve read that suggests Britain voluntarily left the Roman Empire (“Britain had rebelled against Rome and resigned from the Empire”). Eh? Early Brexit? That one also wasn’t a success, then …
Would I read this book again? Not too sure. But I enjoyed the read despite some annoyance. So it’s three stars.
On the one hand, the response to the question takes some punkish pride in the fact that this little island has managed to antagonise just about every other nation on the planet more than once. On the other, the response shows how disastrous most of the military actions were, contrary to the official line or confirming the official silence, and demonstrates that “we” really had no business being in the places “we” invaded.
The point being that “we” don’t really know “our” own history and “we” shouldn’t be too surprised to find that most other countries of the world have good reason to be suspicious of, and downright hostile to, “us”. Much has been done by the government of England and then Britain in “our” name that “we” wouldn’t really wish to be associated with.
That aside, the book doesn’t go into any analysis of the impact or consequences of these actions. It is self-described as a starting point for further research. It that sense it delivers, as many of these historical episodes are indeed very obscure and deserving of further enquiry. I have learnt a lot reading it.
But the trivialising, flippant, self-deprecating humour gets old fast. I suppose it’s aimed as a parody counterpoint to the glorious histories taught in school and usually laced with jingoism, but it gets offensive by glossing over the miseries inflicted on local populations. Equating military action with modern tourism is particularly grating.
The alphabetical country by country presentation, whilst fitting the book’s intent, makes for a confusing, often repetitive, and sometimes frustrating read, as invariably an important bit of the story at hand is to be found under another entry elsewhere and there are no hyperlinks to help navigate. The old school succession of dates and names with little or no context also gets old after a while.
This is the first history book I’ve read that suggests Britain voluntarily left the Roman Empire (“Britain had rebelled against Rome and resigned from the Empire”). Eh? Early Brexit? That one also wasn’t a success, then …
Would I read this book again? Not too sure. But I enjoyed the read despite some annoyance. So it’s three stars.
March 12, 2025
Leycock estimates that Britain (England, Great Britain or UK - interpretations vary) has over the times invaded 170 out of the 197 entities that he considers 'countries' (basically UN members plus Kosovo and the Vatican; but for some reason he doesn't include Taiwan).
Some of the invasions are pretty questionable. He often includes Constantine the Great's exploits, as he was crowned emperor by the army in Eboracum - present-day York, and his army contained a lot of indigenous Britons. The invasion of Switzerland is equally dubious. In the 14th century, during a brief lull in the 100 year year war between England and France, a large army formed out of unemployed knights and hangers-on that plundered in Alsace and present-day Switzerland, supposedly under the leadership of an English leader. I personally wouldn't qualify that as an 'invasion', but he's setting his own rules.
The language is chatty, but repetitive. I suppose it would have been fun to read e.g. one country per day, but reading the whole book in (not quite) one sitting was a bit of an overdose.
Some of the invasions are pretty questionable. He often includes Constantine the Great's exploits, as he was crowned emperor by the army in Eboracum - present-day York, and his army contained a lot of indigenous Britons. The invasion of Switzerland is equally dubious. In the 14th century, during a brief lull in the 100 year year war between England and France, a large army formed out of unemployed knights and hangers-on that plundered in Alsace and present-day Switzerland, supposedly under the leadership of an English leader. I personally wouldn't qualify that as an 'invasion', but he's setting his own rules.
The language is chatty, but repetitive. I suppose it would have been fun to read e.g. one country per day, but reading the whole book in (not quite) one sitting was a bit of an overdose.
May 28, 2025
This history of British wartime conflicts overseas employs the novelty of arranging them alphabetically rather than chronologically. It is a bit of slog to read cover to cover although the individual chapters for each nation are intentionally quite short they often descend into lists of places, dates, kings, emperors, admirals and pirates. The author acknowledges this brevity early on intending to "whet readers appetites to go in search of more information elsewhere". He could have helped by directing the reader to some of these sources or including a bibliography. The text is also dotted with the occasionally witty one liner but it is hard to be humorous on the subject of war. I think he gets it about right. The author also frequently acknowledges that there may be errors of omission which is fair enough on such a vast subject. If you are going to read this you might be better off dipping in and out when you have a country of interest you want to learn about rather than trying to read in its entirety.
August 16, 2020
This book aims to give a brief overview of all the countries Britain has ever invaded and brief it certainly is. However, the book is aware of it's many shortcomings and insists multiple times that it is only supposed to be a kind of springboard into reading up more about these invasions. However, it doesn't include a further reading list which would have been helpful as a guide to where to look for more information on the invasions. It also assumes a basic general knowledge at points and it's brief summaries of the invasions feel a bit incomplete and like someone is just listing off a bunch of facts. It tries to use a bit of dry humour to combat this but this doesn't always work. However, it is a very quick read and a basic overview of all of Britain's many invasions.
July 16, 2023
A huge disappointment. I had been greatly looking forward to reading this book, but it was by some margin the worst book I have read in many years.
Firstly, it is badly written: full of unamusing throwaway lines, cliches and put together in a very wooden style.
Secondly, it lacks historical insights and conclusions; rather it is just a long and tedious list of dates, battles and characters.
Thirdly, it is poorly structured. A regional rather than an alphabetical list of countries might have helped the reader understand better Britain’s role in the different countries and in world history in general.
I was looking forward to understanding our role in shaping the countries of the world but found this account too superficial to achieve this objective.
Avoid!
Firstly, it is badly written: full of unamusing throwaway lines, cliches and put together in a very wooden style.
Secondly, it lacks historical insights and conclusions; rather it is just a long and tedious list of dates, battles and characters.
Thirdly, it is poorly structured. A regional rather than an alphabetical list of countries might have helped the reader understand better Britain’s role in the different countries and in world history in general.
I was looking forward to understanding our role in shaping the countries of the world but found this account too superficial to achieve this objective.
Avoid!
February 26, 2019
An interesting whistle stop tour of all the countries that have come under Britain’s sphere of influence. Even if you understood this in the back of your mind, the sheer number of countries we’ve invaded over the years makes you realise what a bunch of b*stards we were. Horrifying, but a lesson that many could do with learning.
The writing can seem to be a bit repetitive at times. But I guess there’s only so many ways you can describe how a country was invaded. There are attempts at humour sprinkled throughout. How you feel about some of this would probably depend on your viewpoint. But it does seem very British - we can have quite a morbid sense of humour.
The writing can seem to be a bit repetitive at times. But I guess there’s only so many ways you can describe how a country was invaded. There are attempts at humour sprinkled throughout. How you feel about some of this would probably depend on your viewpoint. But it does seem very British - we can have quite a morbid sense of humour.
March 10, 2024
Absolutely incredible read, took me on an amazing journey of discovery and understanding of how the world has evolved. Superbly written, the number of literary techniques that caught my eye, my english teacher friend spotted a good use of fronted adverbials and a very cheeky but nice to see selection of subortinate clauses, and I was very impressed to spot a semi-colon, great work there! Couple of tips, don't be expecting the new Charles Dickens (although he is overrated), as this book looks like something out of horrible histories, moved me to tears.
September 28, 2024
This is an easy read and successfully condenses complex histories into brief accounts. It’s entertaining but the author is not as funny as he thinks he is.
The title is misleading but I can appreciate it was used to lure people in. Sometimes an “invasion” is the Royal Navy sailing up a foreign river, or British Forces deploying at the request of a foreign Government. Still, I learned lots from this book and It’s a good resource to make you aware of historical events that you can then follow up in more academic material.
The title is misleading but I can appreciate it was used to lure people in. Sometimes an “invasion” is the Royal Navy sailing up a foreign river, or British Forces deploying at the request of a foreign Government. Still, I learned lots from this book and It’s a good resource to make you aware of historical events that you can then follow up in more academic material.
October 3, 2025
Can get rather repetitive as a lot for the major events are the same, colonisation, the British Navy invading during times of slavery, napoleanic wars, world wars and then the country gaining independence at a late date.
It also has a lot of dubious claims, whilst defining invasion is difficult giving it the weakest possible "had official troops in the current or past geographical boundary" leads a lot to be desired.
some interesting vignettes, but not worth reading through the ones you already know and the single paragraph ones.
It also has a lot of dubious claims, whilst defining invasion is difficult giving it the weakest possible "had official troops in the current or past geographical boundary" leads a lot to be desired.
some interesting vignettes, but not worth reading through the ones you already know and the single paragraph ones.
March 24, 2018
An interesting tour round all the countries which "we" (that is the British) have ever invaded. The author is somewhat jinogistic and overlooks or underplays the often atrocious treatment of other countries by the British, but this is a good starting point for further research/reading on the history of the British Empire and how one tiny windswept island invaded most of the globe.
October 6, 2019
As I read, I realised how hard a book this is to do. So many times I was thinking "more detail!", or feeling a little tired of endless "and then in 1847..." type sentences.
But, really, how else would you cover what the title suggests?
What makes it fun for me was the humour of the author, which raises the book.
But, really, how else would you cover what the title suggests?
What makes it fun for me was the humour of the author, which raises the book.
March 25, 2019
Alternative title: a 250 page dossier on historical misdeeds minus the body count and massacres and concentration camps etc. It’s a huge undertaking and has some interesting stories but the author is very particular about events he gives more detail on.
May 31, 2022
Why doesn't Goodreads allow half stars? Here's another 3 1/2 star rating.
The flippant tone of this book works against it at times, but it's a useful survey of British empire building and other military activity.
The flippant tone of this book works against it at times, but it's a useful survey of British empire building and other military activity.
March 22, 2018
Although he does tend to leave you hanging at times, Laycock offers an interesting mishmash of facts, observations and dry asides about the British Empire’s quest to be everywhere.
July 25, 2020
A little novel (pardon the pun). Some tenuous connections, some of it is a little light, but I enjoyed it for the little tidbits of history it introduced me to on occasion.
August 23, 2020
This book provides a brief look at all the countries in the world invaded by Great Britain.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews