On This Day in Politics: Britain's Political History in 365 Days

by Iain Dale

Who became Britain's first Prime Minister on 3 April 1721?
When was Karl Marx born?
Where and when was the first battle of the Wars of the Roses?
When did Big Ben first bong?
When did the first British woman cast her vote? ( It wasn't 1918.)

Find the answers to these questions and many more in this landmark political history.

From the first meeting of an elected English parliament on 20 January 1265 to the tabling of the Bill of Rights on 13 February 1689; from the Peterloo massacre of 16 August 1819 to Britain voting to leave the EU on 23 June 2016, there is a growing thirst for knowledge about the history of our constitutional settlement, our party system and how our parliamentary democracy has developed.

Writing as an observer of political history, but also as someone with an opinion, acclaimed political broadcaster Iain Dale charts the main events of the last few hundred years, with one event per page, per day.

'The indefatigable Iain Dale always cuts to the nub of politics.' Adam Boulton

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History

400 pages, Paperback

Published September 19, 2024

Reviews

[Christopher Clannachan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gets 5 stars. I have been reading this over the course of 4 months and it’s been so enjoyable! The format of a political event on each day of the year in 365 words allows you to dip in and out, reading little segments whenever to increase your historical knowledge. Perfect for the train to work, the plane or when you only want to read a few pages before bed. Right up my street, loved it. The only slight downfall is the author’s clear love and bias for Maggie Thatcher but this is easy to spot and you can take it with a pinch of salt. Other than that, fab project / book!

[Julian Onions · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting snippets of political history. One event per day, ranging from Brexit to the Corn laws to Magna Carta. So a real smorgasbord of facts about political history.

[Malcolm Schaffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy the numerous podcasts of Iain Dale and his books on prime ministers and presidents.I am not sure however that the concept of this book really worked.Identifying a political event in the United Kingdom for each day of the year means that there will be some days when when the availability of suitable material is a bit thin - do either the Krays or Big Ben have any real political significance? There is an admirable discipline in keeping the description of each event to two or three kindle pages but it does mean that it’s all a bit bitty with the descriptions not giving enough meat to satisfy the reader .Finally ,while Iain Dale is mostly good at staying objective in spite of his Conservative party roots, his blind spot ,namely his obsession with Margaret Thatcher is very evident in the numerous references to her,The Miners Strike and the Falklands War.Of course there should be some references but the degree is over the top.
So sorry I ended up feeling a bit underwhelmed by this venture

[Emma Dargue · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good. This book was a dip in dip out book but I learnt a lot reading this book.

[Jack Reilly Gillic · Rating 4 out of 5]

The highest praise for a book of this nature is that all the daily facts were well chosen, engaging and I felt that I actually learnt something throughout the year.

Mission accomplished.