Much is made on internet forums of the idea that Britain has invaded all but 22 of the 193 sovereign states recognised by the United Nations.
It’s a claim that seems to originate in a 2012 book by Stuart Laycock, All the Countries We’ve Ever Invaded: And the Few We Never Got Round To.
In it the author explores the good, bad and ugly of Britain’s colonisation of huge tracts of the globe from the 17th to 20th centuries – and sheds light on forgotten episodes in Britain’s imperial history. But the word ‘invasion’ is misleading in some instances as the statistics include countries not actively assaulted but where British troops were stationed.
In addition, Norway is regarded as having been ‘invaded’ in 1940 when British troops landed and fought the Nazis on Norwegian soil, while a raid on Albania in the same war is also called an ‘invasion’. In other instances, single acts of piracy are counted. Put simply, there are a lot of grey areas.
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Main image: British troops land in Norway in 1940. Credit: Getty
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