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This chapter describes Viotti's life of music making at the private concerts of Margaret Chinnery at Gillwell, and as a guest in other homes, and his participation in the education of the Chinnery children. Well-known visitors to Gillwell included the composer Francesco Bianchi, the singers Giuseppina Grassini, Angelica Catalani, and Giuseppe Viganoni, the violinists Johann Salomon and Feliks Janiewitz, the cellist John Crosdill, and the double bassist Domenico Dragonetti, all friends and colleagues of Viotti's. Viotti's friendship with the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, the poet William Spencer, and many other prominent persons of the time is given due consideration. His visits to Christ Church College, Oxford, to see George Chinnery, who was a student there, 1808–11, and to St. Omer and Paris with the Chinnerys in 1802, are described. The end of the chapter considers the death of Caroline Chinnery, aged twenty-one, a talented pianist, and the forced departure from England of William Chinnery, both events occurring in March 1812, with the subsequent sale of Gillwell.

This chapter focuses on the relationship between Odette and Swann. The relationship is inflected by Englishness in a deep and significant way, one which begins to suggest the architectonic power of this theme in the novel, and which is as much to do with the exquisitely polished, artistically minded Swann, with his membership of le Jockey and his friendship with the Prince of Wales, as with the vulgar, ignorant Odette. Through Odette’s love for orchids, particularly the cattleya, and through Swann’s sexual identification of her with this flower, we can begin to grasp the complex network in which English words mediate both desire and loss in the novel; the significance of this theme becomes clear when we realize that both Swann and Odette, in different ways, trace their nature to an origine anglaise.

This chapter discusses Aaron Hill's interests on Voltaire and Prince Frederick from 1733 to 1738. Given the staunchly patriotic, anti-Gallic spirit of Hill's cultural pronouncements in the Prompter, there is a certain irony that he enjoyed his greatest dramatic successes as an English adapter of French plays. Zara, Alzira, and Merope, all translations of tragedies by Voltaire, secured Hill's reputation as a dramatist more effectively than any of his original plays. Hill, with his obsession with theatre reformation, found it significant that Zaire, a serious tragedy dedicated to moral issues, had taken Paris by storm and was attracting large audiences. He questioned why it is that London audiences cannot share the same love of tragedy instead of low farce. Hill looked to Frederick, Prince of Wales, to reverse the Hanoverian disdain for poetry and high drama which had characterised his father's and grandfather's reigns.

This chapter examines the events that pointed towards an inevitable confrontation between Gandhi and the Viceroy. It first notes Gandhi observation that public opinion was quickly turning in favour of civil disobedience, and that he needed to speed-up the non-cooperation movement. However, the Viceroy was also under pressure to defeat the non-cooperation movement. The chapter looks at the directive of the Cabinet—it criticized the Viceroy for his delay in arresting Gandhi—that was provoked by the approaching visit of the Prince of Wales to India. It is then followed by a section that examines the Bombay riots, which caused the Indian government to consider adopting more drastic measures. The chapter ends with a section on Gandhi’s first campaign on mass civil disobedience to be conducted in Bardoli.

In the 1920s and 1930s, three important visions of future naval war in the Pacific were extant: the American ORANGE war plans, the Japanese "Attrition/Interception" concept, and the British "Singapore strategy." This chapter by Evan Mawdsleyexamines what relevance these expectations had to the situation after the outbreak of full-scale war in China (1937) and Europe (1939), and especially after the fall of France in May-June 1940. It discusses how the war planning of the USA, Japan, and Britain dovetailed, and how it developed in the light of geopolitical and technological changes in the two years preceding the attacks on Malaya and Hawaii; June-July 1941 marked a second significant turning point. Finally, the chapter considers the relationship between the two actions of the Imperial Navy planned for December 1941, the "Southern Operation" and the "Hawaiian Operation," and the connection between those two Japanese strikes and the American-British "ABC-1" strategy of March 1941.

During the years 1610 to 1612 the threat of war returned to haunt Europe and James I’s critics looked increasingly to Henry, prince of Wales, as a future military and Protestant leader. Chapter 4 looks at Herbert’s engagement with courtly politics and support for his kinsman, Pembroke, who opposed the powerful pro-Catholic and pro-Spanish Howard faction and favoured providing military assistance to fellow Protestants in Europe and seeking alliance with France. It examines Herbert’s determination to secure honour and military experience by fighting as a volunteer in the Protestant army defending Jülich-Cleves in 1610 and the contribution of his military exploits in camp, where he learned the art of making war under Sir Edward Cecil, and his emerging chivalric reputation in England and on the continent. It considers his attempt to defend his honour in a series of duels, including most notoriously with Theophilus Howard, Lord Walden, and Sir John Eyre, and the reaction of the Privy Council and fellow courtiers to the fashion for duelling. It explores Herbert’s involvement in courtly and literary circles; the favour shown him by Anne of Denmark; his friendship with John Donne, Sir Robert Harley, and Sir Thomas Lucy; his commissioning of portraits by leading court artists; and his difficult relationship with members of the Howard family that led, following the rise of Robert Carr, earl of Somerset, as royal favourite and the deaths of Robert Cecil, earl of Salisbury, and Prince Henry, to his withdrawal from court politics.

Paul was launched on a hectic nightly round of screenings at London’s music halls by the success of his projector, yet urgently needed to make new films to enhance the programmes. The Alhambra manager suggested filming a comic scene on the roof of the theatre, and the resulting Soldier’s Courtship became an immediate success, with one of its actors, Ellen Daws, becoming Paul’s wife a year later. In June, Paul travelled to Epsom to film the Derby, and managed to show his film the following night at the Alhambra, where it was appreciatively encored. Soon the Prince of Wales, owner of the winning horse, came to see it. Magicians also played an important part in popularising the new entertainment, with David Devant presenting it at the Egyptian Hall and at the Henry Wood Promenade concerts, while Carl Hertz took Paul’s projector and films on a world tour. Paul was also active showing programmes around Britain, starting in Brighton, where he would inspire local filmmakers. In September, he sent Henry Short on a tour of Spain and Portugal, which yielded an impressive programme, and led to another expedition to Egypt.

The beginning of the 1740s was crucial for George II's reign as king of Britain. Rivalries within the royal family posed key political problems; George had to contend with his eldest son, Frederick, Prince of Wales, and his nephew, Frederick II, the Great, of Prussia. George had hoped that Frederick II's accession to the Prussian throne would transform the diplomatic situation, but the latter chose to attack Austria by invading the wealthy province of Silesia, triggering the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). Robert Walpole sought a reconciliation with Prince Frederick of Wales, but the latter demanded his resignation as a condition for coming to terms with his father. Walpole decided to resign on February 2, 1742, and Parliament was adjourned the following day. Walpole's departure did not end instability, but was instead followed by turmoil. George II achieved glory at the battle of Dettingen in 1743, but in his sixties, his time appeared to be over.

The author presents an account of the mode in which the English spend their time, makes an observation about the length of the days and nights in England, and describes the English's mode of living. He also comments on the division of employment between the sexes, regulations respecting women, liberty of the common people, anecdotes of the Prince of Wales and Governor Hastings, English servants, liberty of the higher classes, duels, and education of children.

This chapter looks at Strenæ Natalitiæ, a volume of poems produced by the University of Oxford to celebrate the events of the birth of the Prince of Wales in 1688. The University of Oxford's Strenæ Natalitiæ was a volume of over a hundred poems, with an obligatory introductory poem contributed by vice-chancellor Gilbert Ironside. The contibutors to Strenæ Natalitiæ were not simply a cross-section of the university's membership and poetic talent, but also of its politics. In some respects, youthful naivety might have been a cause of some of the authors' willingness to embrace the birth of James Edward, despite the anxiety felt by some of their fellow authors. Some of the verse was simple, and naïve in tone. Other verses were marked by a more mystical and prophetic tone. Ultimately, the verses in Strenæ Natalitiæ were predictable in their expressions of congratulation and celebration, though some also contained carefully muted expressions of equivocation.

This chapter explains how the accession of James VI of Scotland to the English crown transformed his two elder children into hotly desired marriage material, and how proposals were received from all quarters, many of which were presented as double marriages for Henry and Elizabeth. It explains why out of the many candidates, James chose Frederick V, even above the King of Spain. James had become embroiled in the Jülich-Berg and Cleves crisis, and was supporting the Protestant Union, and thus by extension its leader, the Elector Palatine, with an army. When the Elector died unexpectedly young, his son, Frederick V, was transformed from also-ran into the most eligible of bachelors. With the King of France having been assassinated, James felt the need to counter France having allied itself with Spain through a double marriage treaty: he joined the Protestant Union for six years, as well as promising his daughter to the Elector-Palatine in waiting. Elizabeth moved from Kew to Whitehall in preparation for the arrival of Frederick V, with whom she had begun exchanging courtship letters as was demanded by the duty she owed to her father. Shortly after Frederick’s arrival in England with hundreds of courtiers, and while the court revelled in the upcoming wedding, Henry fell ill and died. Elizabeth was inconsolable. A period of mourning began, but the wedding preparations continued.

With Henry dead, James was keen that Elizabeth’s marriage go ahead as planned, not least as many of his subjects were now unhappy to see their princess, who they considered a far more likely heir than the fragile Charles, leave the country. Frederick and Elizabeth were thus married in Banqueting House in a ‘private’ ceremony on 6 January. Three days before their marriage’s solemnization on Valentine’s Day, the king, the young couple, and practically the entire population of London watched a series of spectacular fireworks displays on the Thames. These were designed to connect Princess Elizabeth with English Protestant chivalry and the late Queen Elizabeth's fervent Protestantism - the programme drew heavily from Edmund Spenser's allegorical celebration of Elizabeth I, The Faerie Queene. The following day was occupied by a jingoistic mock sea-battle; the day after that was a day of rest originally intended for a masque, then un-titled but now known as The Masque of Truth. The cancelled masque was pro-Protestant, emphasizing Britain's alignment with the Palatine, showing his Calvinism as the true faith that would convert Catholic powers. The Protestant propaganda shows just how divided the country had become, as many of the faithful appeared to have more belief in Elizabeth than they did in their king. The Palatine match had turned Elizabeth Stuart into their new warrior queen, a mystical heir to both Henry and the late queen Elizabeth, her godmother. Finally, the chapter explores the wedding itself and its costs, both in financial and political terms.