
Pax Britannica: A History of the British Empire
Pax Britannica is a narrative history podcast covering the empire upon which the sun never set. Shortlisted for the 2023 Independent Podcast Awards, Pax Britannica follows the events which created an empire that dominated the globe. Hosted by Dr Samuel Hume, a historian of British Imperial history, Pax Britannica aims to explain the rise and eventual fall of the largest empire in history. After all, how peaceful was the 'British Peace'?
Latest episodes

Aug 4, 2024 • 1h 10min
English Revolution Q&A with David Crowther Part 1
I answer YOUR questions with David Crowther of the History of England Podcast!Listen to the History of England: https://thehistoryofengland.co.uk/podcasts/history-of-england/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 9, 2024 • 23min
03.33 - The Occupation of Scotland
The New Model Army occupies Scotland, but trouble is brewing in the Highlands.Send us your questions at https://bit.ly/RevQAJoin the Mailing List!Join the Patreon House of Lords for ad-free episodes!This episode could not have been written without the following works:
Francis Dow, Cromwellian Scotland, 1651-1660, 1999.
Martyn Bennet, Oliver Cromwell, 2006.
Michael Braddick (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015.
John Coffey, 'Religious Thought', in Michael Braddick (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015.
Barry Coward, The Cromwellian Protectorate, 2002.
Paul Lay, Providence Lost: The Rise and Fall of the English Republic, 2020.
Anna Keay, The Restless Republic, 2022.
John Morrill, The Letters, Writings, and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell, Vol 2: 1 February 1649 to 12 December 1653, 2023
John Kenyon and Jane Ohlmeyer, The Civil Wars: A Military History of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1638-1660.
Alan MacInnes, The British Revolution, 1629-1660, 2004.
Ian Gentles, The New Model Army: Agent of Revolution, 2022.
Go to AirwaveMedia.com to find other great history shows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 1, 2024 • 29min
Elections from History: New Zealand, 1919
William Massey, leader of the Reform Party, and Sir Joseph Ward, leader of the Liberal Party, had spent an agonising four years in coalition together. They hated it, and once the First World War was over and they were back in New Zealand, they tried to tear each other down.But the political scene in New Zealand had turned nasty in their absence. Sectarianism was surging, and the political value of prejudice had never been higher. There was also a new kid on the bloc - the New Zealand Labour Party.Send in questions about the Wars of the Three Kingdoms to https://bit.ly/RevQAJoin the Mailing List!Join the Patreon House of Lords for ad-free episodes!Go to AirwaveMedia.com to find other great history shows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 22, 2024 • 51min
The Windrush Scandal with Dr Juanita Cox
Learn more about The Windrush Scandal in a Transnational and Commonwealth Context HERE or HERESend in questions about the Wars of the Three Kingdoms to https://bit.ly/RevQAJoin the Mailing List!Join the Patreon House of Lords for ad-free episodes!Go to AirwaveMedia.com to find other great history shows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 17, 2024 • 23min
03.32 - Peace Through War
The First Anglo-Dutch War ends, and Lord Protector Cromwell brings peace to his new Commonwealth. Mostly.Send us your questions at https://bit.ly/RevQAJoin the Mailing List!Join the Patreon House of Lords for ad-free episodes!This episode could not have been written without the following works:
The Instrument of Government: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1653intrumentgovt.asp
Martyn Bennet, Oliver Cromwell, 2006.
Michael Braddick (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015.
John Coffey, 'Religious Thought', in Michael Braddick (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015.
Barry Coward, The Cromwellian Protectorate, 2002.
Nicholas Rodger, The Command of the Ocean: a Naval History of Britain, Volume 2, 1649-1815, 2004.
Jonathan Healey, The Blazing World, 2023.
Roger Hainsworth, Christine Churches, The Anglo-Dutch Naval Wars, 1652-1674, 1998.
Paul Lay, Providence Lost: The Rise and Fall of the English Republic, 2020.
Anna Keay, The Restless Republic, 2022.
John Morrill, The Letters, Writings, and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell, Vol 2: 1 February 1649 to 12 December 1653, 2023
John Kenyon and Jane Ohlmeyer, The Civil Wars: A Military History of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1638-1660.
Alan MacInnes, The British Revolution, 1629-1660, 2004.
Ian Gentles, The New Model Army: Agent of Revolution, 2022.
Leo F. Solt, 'The Fifth Monarchy Men: Politics and the Millenium', Church History, 30, 3, 1961.
Jonathan Fitzgibbons, "'To settle a governement without somthing of Monarchy in it": Bulstrode Whitelocke’s Memoirs and the Reinvention of the Interregnum', The English Historical Review, 137, 586, 2022, 655-691.
Go to AirwaveMedia.com to find other great history shows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 16, 2024 • 3min
Announcement - English Revolution Q&A with the History of England's David Crowther
Send us your questions at https://bit.ly/RevQAQuestions close on the 14th of July 2024! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 10, 2024 • 28min
03.31 - The Uncrowned King
With the failure of Barebone's Parliament, John Lambert presents the Instrument of Government. The first written constitution in English history, designed to share power between an executive, his council, and an elected parliament. Maybe this new government would stand the test of time...Join the Mailing List!Join the Patreon House of Lords for ad-free episodes!This episode could not have been written without the following works:
The Instrument of Government: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1653intrumentgovt.asp
Martyn Bennet, Oliver Cromwell, 2006.
Michael Braddick (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015.
John Coffey, 'Religious Thought', in Michael Braddick (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015.
Barry Coward, The Cromwellian Protectorate, 2002.
Jonathan Healey, The Blazing World, 2023.
Paul Lay, Providence Lost: The Rise and Fall of the English Republic, 2020.
Anna Keay, The Restless Republic, 2022.
John Morrill, The Letters, Writings, and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell, Vol 2: 1 February 1649 to 12 December 1653, 2023
John Kenyon and Jane Ohlmeyer, The Civil Wars: A Military History of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1638-1660.
Alan MacInnes, The British Revolution, 1629-1660, 2004.
Ian Gentles, The New Model Army: Agent of Revolution, 2022.
Leo F. Solt, 'The Fifth Monarchy Men: Politics and the Millenium', Church History, 30, 3, 1961.
Jonathan Fitzgibbons, "'To settle a governement without somthing of Monarchy in it": Bulstrode Whitelocke’s Memoirs and the Reinvention of the Interregnum', The English Historical Review, 137, 586, 2022, 655-691.
Go to AirwaveMedia.com to find other great history shows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 3, 2024 • 43min
03.30 - Barebone's Parliament
After the dissolution of the Rump Parliament, Oliver Cromwell and the Council of Officers decide on a new government. A new assembly - not an elected parliament - would be summoned, ordered to carry out the reforms long neglected by the Rump and to prepare a new parliament. It is given sixteen months to do this.It won't last six months.Join the Mailing List!Join the Patreon House of Lords for ad-free episodes!This episode could not have been written without the following works:
Martyn Bennet, Oliver Cromwell, 2006.
Michael Braddick (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015.
John Coffey, 'Religious Thought', in Michael Braddick (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015.
Barry Coward, The Cromwellian Protectorate, 2002.
Jonathan Healey, The Blazing World, 2023.
Anna Keay, The Restless Republic, 2022.
John Morrill (ed.), The Letters, Writings, and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell, Vol 2: 1 February 1649 to 12 December 1653, 2023
John Kenyon and Jane Ohlmeyer, The Civil Wars: A Military History of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1638-1660.
Alan MacInnes, The British Revolution, 1629-1660, 2004.
Ian Gentles, The New Model Army: Agent of Revolution, 2022.
Leo F. Solt, 'The Fifth Monarchy Men: Politics and the Millenium', Church History, 30, 3, 1961.
Jonathan Fitzgibbons, "'To settle a governement without somthing of Monarchy in it": Bulstrode Whitelocke’s Memoirs and the Reinvention of the Interregnum', The English Historical Review, 137, 586, 2022, 655-691.
Go to AirwaveMedia.com to find other great history shows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 21, 2024 • 23min
03.29 - Radicalism of the Soul
We take a closer look at the Baptists, the Quakers, the Ranters, and the Fifth Monarchists, as the revolutionary energy of the Commonwealth of England is channeled into religious thought.Join the Mailing List!Join the Patreon House of Lords for ad-free episodes!
Martyn Bennet, Oliver Cromwell, 2006.
Michael Braddick (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015.
John Coffey, 'Religious Thought', in Michael Braddick (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015.
Barry Coward, The Cromwellian Protectorate, 2002.
Jonathan Healey, The Blazing World, 2023.
Anna Keay, The Restless Republic, 2022.
John Morrill, The Letters, Writings, and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell, Vol 2: 1 February 1649 to 12 December 1653, 2023
John Kenyon and Jane Ohlmeyer, The Civil Wars: A Military History of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1638-1660.
Alan MacInnes, The British Revolution, 1629-1660, 2004.
Ariel Hessayon, 'Abiezer Coppe and the Ranters', 2012.
John Gurney, 'Gerrard Winstanley and the Left', Past & Present, 235, 1, 2017.
Ian Gentles, The New Model Army: Agent of Revolution, 2022.
Leo F. Solt, 'The Fifth Monarchy Men: Politics and the Millenium', Church History, 30, 3, 1961.
Go to AirwaveMedia.com to find other great history shows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 6, 2024 • 31min
03.28 - In the Name of God, Go!
Back in London, Oliver Cromwell loses patience with the Rump Parliament. The New Model Army is getting restless, and Parliament appears to be prioritising its own power over the reforms its soldiers fought for.Have your say in the Airwave survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PAXBRITANNICAJoin the Mailing List!Join the Patreon House of Lords for ad-free episodes!
Jonathan Barth, The Currency of Empire, Money and Power in Seventeenth-Century English America (Cornell University Press, 2021).
Martyn Bennet, Oliver Cromwell, 2006.
Michael Braddick. The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015.
Barry Coward, The Cromwellian Protectorate, 2002.
Jonathan Healey, The Blazing World, 2023.
Anna Keay, The Restless Republic, 2022.
John Morrill, The Letters, Writings, and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell, Vol 2: 1 February 1649 to 12 December 1653, 2023
Nicholas Rodger, The Command of the Ocean: a Naval History of Britain, Volume 2, 1649-1815, 2004.
Ian Roy, 'Prince Rupert', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
Roger Hainsworth, Christine Churches, The Anglo-Dutch Naval Wars, 1652-1674, 1998.
Christian J. Koot, ‘A “Dangerous Principle”: Free Trade Discourses in Barbados and the English Leeward Islands, 1650—1689’, Early American Studies, 5.1 (2007), 132–63.
John Kenyon and Jane Ohlmeyer, The Civil Wars: A Military History of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1638-1660.
Alan MacInnes, The British Revolution, 1629-1660, 2004.
Go to AirwaveMedia.com to find other great history shows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices