history

I have finished reading "Scotland - a short history", by Christopher Harvie. I can't say I have a much better feeling for the history of Scotland. I am not sure I take much in when I read books on plane journeys. Of course English history is much simpler. You just have to say "1066", and recall that England won the world cup in 1966. If pressed, you can always say "the Manga Carta -- did she die in vain", and then look superior in a well bred sort of way. I studied the history of the long march in China when I was at school. (OK, we also studied English castles). Anyway, what Chancellor Brown is thinking, when he is proposing to have citizen tests for new immigrants. The immigrants will know more British history than we do. That will change Britain, because ignorance of history is part of our national heritage.