A History of Britain

What do you get when you combine the resources and ethos of the BBC with the literary panache of one of the world's best narrative historians? The answer is Simon Schama's History of Britain, the first volume of which accompanies the BBC television series of the same name.

In a beautifully written and thoughtfully crafted book, studded with striking portraits, pictures and maps, Schama, the bestselling author of books on European cultural history such as The Embarrassment of Riches and Citizens, as well as 1999's Rembrandt's Eyes, has managed to be both conventional and provocative. He tells the official version of Britain's island story--from Roman Britain, through the Norman conquest, the struggles of the Henrys and Richards with their bolshie barons and cautious clerics, Edward I and the subjugation of Wales, King Death (the plague), and on to the Henrician reformation, before closing with the remarkable reign of the virgin queen, Elizabeth I.

While sticking to a script familiar to anyone who sat up and listened in history lessons at school, Schama brings it all alive, with memorable prose--Simon de Montfort's rebel parliament is described as inaugurating the "union between patriotism and insubordination"; with Henry VIII, Schama says, "you could practically smell the testosterone". And with fine sensitivity too, particularly on the symbolism of buildings, memorials, language and ceremonies, and on the complex relations between England and her Celtic and Catholic neighbours. If history must have gloss, then let it be written and presented like this. --Miles Taylor

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Well written and informative - Rated
The three volumes in this series by Simon Schama provide a well written and informative overview of British history. I preferred them to the TV series.

Informative and entertaining - Rated
This History of Britain vol. 1 is by no means exhaustive but that's not what it intends nor claims to be. Instead, you get an engaging page-turner, as addictive as the best detective or adventure novel, told by an expert in the matter and a consummate story-teller to boot. I bought this after having seen the BBC series but, trust you me, the book is even better!

Racing with rulers - Rated
This delightful romp through Britain's history from Roman to Elizabethan times is enchanting reading. Although mis-titled, since Schama dispenses with two millennia in but a few pages, his engrossing prose keeps your attention fixed through every page. He hasn't, of course, given us a "history of Britain" in any but a limited sense. The theme is the governance of a nation with expanding and contracting borders, rulers and those aspiring to rule drifting on and off the stage, and the politics of ruling such a land. The "life" of the country - the tillers, shepherds, artificers, fishermen, are pushed offstage unseen. Not intended as an academic study, it's an entertaining overview.

Schama's prose is often evocative. A prime example is his account of the preliminaries leading to the invasion at Hastings and the encounter itself. We witness, almost as participants, the victories and waning of Edward, king of Wessex. His successor, Harold, crosses the reach of England to defeat invading Vikings prior to the rush south to counter William of Normandy. At the battle site, Schama brings you onto the battle site, viewing the impending clash first from the English side, then from the Norman. You sweat and reflect, facing determined enemies prior to the onslaught. He moves you with the troops, thrusting, dodging, suffering as the battle rages. By the time you reach the pages of William's consolidating his victory, you are breathless. Schama is rarely detached from events throughout this book, and he has you at his side at every significant circumstance.

His discussions of the governance of Britain make compelling reading. Just as we thought the Domesday Book was little more than a tool of Norman oppression, Schama depicts William as "the first database king" bent on achieving equitable enforcement of justice. In later years, Henry II would continue that tradition, ruling medieval Europe's greatest empire. Without delving into tedious detail, Schama makes clear that ruling Britain at any level is a dynamic process. Although the successive monarchs may appear a continuum separated by some violent events, he demonstrates that whoever sat on the throne must perform the task of ruling. The methods may vary, sometimes harshly imposed, but tradition repeatedly impairs the march of change. Anyone failing to understand this will fail to understand Britain. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

A thematic approach - Rated
Schama's History of Britain was written to accompany the series of the same name. This first volume takes us up as far as 1603 and the death of Elizabeth I. The chapters in the book are long, and rather than a chronological Kings & Queens focus, Sharma has chosen themes, which coincide with the episodes of the television series. I do not wish to criticise this as an approach, because it does take a fresh approach to the subjects covered, but on the other hand it means that this is not a fully comprehensive History of Britain, indeed there is little on Scotland, Wales or Ireland, as such monumentous events as the Wars of the Roses are pretty much sidelined.

A super book - Rated
This series (both the TV and the books) are wonderful. It guides you gently through the main historical events of our country, gory details included - the type of things you actually remember and are interested, in rather than a dry narrative full of dull facts.

It is written in a very laid back, easy to read style by an academic - a 'practising historian' and focuses on the history of the people who made the events happen and their affect on our lives today. Beautiful photographs accompany the accounts... it is worth it just for the pictures!