The essays in this book were written and revised over more than three decades. They were largely written in response to books or events rather than as part of a larger project. Each essay, nonetheless, draws on my engagement with Britain and its modern history that has been central to my teaching, research and writing throughout my adult life during which I have developed some consistent ideas and perspectives on the past. The first three chapters of the book consists of essays on economic change, why it occurred and its variegated nature. This is followed by four essays that consider questions raised by Edward Thompson's notion of the 'moral economy' in the twenty-first century and the nature of Romanticism and the notions of alienation and dystopia through the poetry of John Clare and the writings of George Orwell. The remainder of this book examines place through a focus on Dunstable in Bedfordshire in its county, regional and national settings and in one chapter on its namesake in the United States.