The History Book Club discussion

This thread is dedicated to and focused on Gibraltar.

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula. It has an area of 6.7 km2 (2.6 sq mi) and is bordered to the north by Spain. The landscape is dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar at the foot of which is a densely populated town area, home to over 32,000 people, primarily Gibraltarians.

Remainder of article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibraltar

Source: Wikipedia

This is a wonderful little film that was put together at the beginning of NATO for all of the member states. This was the one put together for the United Kingdom.


The Instrument of Accession signed by His Majesty King George VI in London on 17 May 1949

Presentation of the history and contribution of the United Kingdom to Western defense and the Atlantic Community.

"Introducing the United Kingdom" is part of a series originally designed as "Know your Allies", and finally titled "the Atlantic Community Series".

Its objectives were to familiarize public opinion in each of the member country with the other Alliance members and to emphasize the national contributions to Western culture and political traditions, economic reconstruction and allied defense in the framework of NATO.

The series was produced between 1954 and 1956 and financed by the US government in the context of the Marshall Plan with the cooperation of the Information Service of NATO, and distributed by NATO. The films in the Atlantic Community Series received large non-theatrical distribution and, in some cases, were shown in cinemas and on TV. Language versions were made and distributed with the help of the national governments.

“My country and NATO” tells the story of each one of NATO’s members, using a selection of unique archival materials to take you back in time.

Link to film: https://youtu.be/ODrja3SmIL4
Note: This is an excellent little film produced between 1954 - 1956 so there is a lot of history in the making here. And it shows a lot of pride in the country.

The United Kingdom and Nato
Link: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/de...

Nato Declassified:
Link: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/de...

An upcoming book:
Release date: October 15, 2026

The Last Place in Europe: A History of Gibraltar

by Geoffrey Plank (no photo)

Synopsis:

Since classical times, sailors, poets, and geographers have seen Gibraltar as a natural monument separating the Mediterranean from the Atlantic and Europe from Africa. Ancient Greeks and Romans recounted how the hero Hercules, sent on a mission to the end of the Earth, discovered an isthmus linking Africa and Europe. He destroyed it, leaving Gibraltar and an adjacent peak in Africa as the only remaining fragments of the demolished land bridge. By 1492, the strait between the continents was associated with the separation of faiths, serving as a boundary line between Christendom and Islam. After Spain's expulsions of Muslims and Jews, Gibraltar became, in the eyes of the Spanish, a fortress city on the frontier of European Christendom. The Anglo-Dutch seizure of Gibraltar in 1704 created a new border cutting the small peninsula off from Spain. Today, Gibraltar is the only territory in Europe included on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories, and Britain and Spain continue to make claims to its few square miles.

The Last Place in Europe examines Gibraltar's history from antiquity to the present, focusing on how the peninsula's dramatic geographical position has shaped mythologies, religious animosities, scientific theories, migration patterns, trade, international politics, and labor relations. Gibraltar has always belonged as much to the Atlantic world as to the Mediterranean. Geoffrey Plank traces Gibraltar's commercial ties to Portuguese, Spanish, and British colonies in Africa and the Americas. After Britain seized Gibraltar early in the eighteenth century, the town and garrison became a meeting place for merchants, missionaries, refugees, sailors, scientists, and soldiers from across the British Empire. Plank recounts notable military events during the American Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and World War II. Legacies of past conflict have inflected Gibraltar's history through the two world wars, the collapse of the British Empire, the Spanish blockade from 1969 to 1982, Britain's 2016 withdrawal from the European Union, and Gibraltar's development as a center of off-shore international finance.

With its dramatic history at land and sea, The Last Place in Europe sets a new standard for work on this area of outsized significance as a crossroads of Europe, Africa, and the Atlantic world.