Here is a colorful collection of writings by well known scholars and critics on modern Britain's literature and history. From British personalities, politics, and culture, to Britain's interaction with other societies, the subjects are wide-ranging and sometimes surprising. Niall Ferguson examines the origins of the first World War; Avi Shlaim reasseses the Balfour Declaration; Geoffrey Wheatcroft writes about Evelyn Waugh; David Cannadine revisits C.P. Snow's Two Cultures; and much more.