Series 1

David Olusoga tells the story of attempts to form a united Britain in the 17th and early 18th centuries, a period defined by religious and cultural divisions.

David Olusoga reveals how, in the 18th century, a new British identity was forged in the face of multiple threats from within - including the Jacobite rebellions in Scotland and an Irish revolution in 1798, and near-constant war with France.

The 19th-century union appears secure, but beneath the surface run deep divisions, leading to the emergence of a new working-class movement - and a catastrophic famine in Ireland.

The 20th century sees partition in Ireland. A sense of national unity emerges in the aftermath of the Second World War, but economic challenges in the 1970s create new divisions and questions about the union’s future.