Britain may be understood in a number of ways (See Britain).

The History of Britain, until the last few hundred years, was one of struggle and competition between the separate nation states that occupied various parts of the island of Great Britain. England became the dominant power, coexisting with these nations at different times under the mantle of 'Great Britain' to form the United Kingdom.

For a history of the modern British state see History of the United Kingdom. Otherwise you might be looking for one of these:

Periodization

• Ancient Britain (Prehistory–43 CE)
• Roman Britain (44–410)
• Britain in the Middle Ages
  • Anglo-Saxon Britain and the Heptarchy (440–850)
  • Danelaw (850–1066)
  • Norman Conquest (1066)
• Early modern Britain
  • Tudor period
    • English Renaissance
    • Elizabethan era
  • Jacobean era
  • Restoration
  • Scottish Enlightenment
  • Georgian era
• History of the United Kingdom
  • Regency period
  • Victorian era
  • Edwardian period
    • Britain in World War I

Geographic

• History of England
  • History of London
• History of Scotland
• History of Wales
• History of Ireland

States

• States in Medieval Britain
• Kingdom of Ireland (1541 - 1801)
• Kingdom of Scotland (to 1707)
• Kingdom of Great Britain (1707-1801)
• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801 - 1927)
• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1927 to date)
• British Empire and the Commonwealth

Rulers

• Mythical British Kings
• Bretwalda
• List of rulers of Wales
• Kings of the Picts
• Kings of Dalriada
• Kings of Strathclyde
• Kings of the Isle of Man and the Isles
• Kings of the Isle of Man
• Kings of East Anglia
• Kings of Essex
• Kings of Kent
• Kings of Sussex
• Kings of Wessex
• Kings of Mercia
• Kings of Northumbria

Topical

• British military history
• Economic history of Great Britain
• History of British society
• British Empire
• Natural disasters in Britain and the United Kingdom

Institutions and buildings

• Ancient British universities
• Cathedrals in the United Kingdom

See also

• Geology of the United Kingdom - for history before human occupation
• UK topics

Further reading

• A History of Britain: At the Edge of the World, 3500 BC - 1603 AD by Simon Schama, BBC/Miramax, 2000 ISBN 0786866756
• A History of Britain, Volume 2: The Wars of the British 1603-1776 by Simon Schama, BBC/Miramax, 2001 ISBN 0786866756
• A History of Britain - The Complete Collection on DVD by Simon Schama, BBC 2002 ASIN B00006RCKI
• The Isles, A History by Norman Davies, Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-19-513442-7
• Shortened History of England by G. M. Trevelyan Penguin Books ISBN 0140233237