The 'British Isles' entered the twentieth century as a single state 'Great Britain and Ireland' with a 'British Empire' greater in extent and larger in population than the world had ever seen. The first fifty years saw vast change. This volume presents a very different country in 1951 from what it had been in 1901. The chapters by different authors focus on politics, economics, society, wars, and foreign policy to emphasize the interconnectedness of all these developments. These expositions reflect on 'the British Way and Purpose' from different perspectives.