Floating down to Camelot

When I was young, the difference betwen English and British was drilled into me very hard. My Dad gets quite cross when English people use "British" when they actually mean "English," and vice versa - a mistake that I doubt many Scottish or Welsh people make. I once spent a good while attempting to explain to some people at work why a book on Henry VIII was English history and therefore classed under 942, whereas a book on the reign of Queen Victoria was British history and classed as 941. They couldn't understand the difference.