Serendipitous Adventures with Britannia is the latest addition to Wm Roger Louis's stimulating and acclaimed series, Adventures with Britannia. It draws upon a distinguished array of writers and scholars - historians, political scientists, journalists, novelists, biographers and English literature specialists - to guide the reader through a fascinating labyrinth of British culture, history and politics. Together, they provide a unique insight into the pivotal themes - political, literary and cultural - which have shaped British state and society. The subjects covered include a new analysis of Arthur Conan Doyle by David Leal, a new account of Evelyn Waugh and Randolph Churchill, and in literature, Nigel Newton writes on Harry Potter and Bloomsbury. Collectively, the chapters combine a rich mix of original ideas, historical and literary allusion, personality and anecdote, to provide an intellectual adventure into the mainsprings of modern British and international society.

The editor, Wm. Roger Louis, is Kerr Professor of English History and Culture and Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, an Honorary Fellow of St. Antony’s College, Oxford, and a past President of the American Historical Association. His books include Ends of British Imperialism (2006). He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford History of the British Empire. In 2013, he was awarded the Benson Medal of the Royal Society of Literature, and in 2016 he delivered the Weizmann Memorial Lecture.