Episode 2

Available for over a year

On September 18th this year, the voters of Scotland will decide in a referendum whether they want their nation henceforth to be independent of the United Kingdom, or remain within the union that has bound Britain together since the Act of Union of 1707. In "Acts of Union and Disunion", Linda Colley, Professor of History at the University of Princeton, examines the forces that bind together the diverse peoples, customs and loyalties of the United Kingdom. And the often equally powerful movements that from time to time across the centuries threaten to pull Britain apart. In tonight's Omnibus Edition, Linda examines the four nations - England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland - that make up the British Isles, and the complex relationships that have bound their history together and that have, almost equally frequently, divided them. Producer: Simon Elmes.