'We will fight them on the beaches'
For millennia island nations have known that invasion would come from the sea and that the enemy would select the most suitable point of disembarkation-a safe bay or harbour, a wide estuary of a deeply penetrating river or a good sheltered beach. Britain has been preparing for such invasions since ancient times. Eventually invaders did come in the form of the Romans followed by the Normans, and both built coastal defences to suit their needs. Each later monarch of England added new defences-from castles to estuary chains-according to the dangers they...

'We will fight them on the beaches'
For millennia island nations have known that invasion would come from the sea and that the enemy would select the most suitable point of disembarkation-a safe bay or harbour, a wide estuary of a deeply penetrating river or a good sheltered beach. Britain has been preparing for such invasions since ancient times. Eventually invaders did come in the form of the Romans followed by the Normans, and both built coastal defences to suit their needs. Each later monarch of England added new defences-from castles to estuary chains-according to the dangers they...