In the book All The Countries We’ve Ever Invaded, British historian Stuart Laycock writes, “Out of 193 countries that are currently UN member states, [the British] invaded or fought conflicts in the territory of 171. That’s not far off a massive, jaw-dropping 90 per cent.” But a lot of those incursions are relatively obscure. For instance, the time British troops took the Ionian islands doesn’t make it into many non-Ionian history books. Laycock’s methodology is broad — he includes British pirates, privateers, and armed explorers whose activities were blessed by the government — and his research goes all the way back to the beginning. In a review, the Telegraph notes, “The earliest invasion launched from these islands was an incursion into Gaul — now France —at the end of the second century. Clodius Albinus led an army, thought to include many Britons, across the Channel in an attempt to seize the imperial throne. The force was defeated in 197 at Lyon.”