Britain never had the kind of revolution experienced by France in 1789 but it did come close. In the mid-1770s the country was intoxicated by a great surge of political energy.... more
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The Fate of Empirebrings Simon Schama's stylish and absorbingHistory of Britainto a
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stirring close. Of the volumes in the trilogy,The Fate of Empireis the most subjective, as Schama offers his own account of how the British shaped much of the modern wo...
stirring close. Of the volumes in the trilogy,The Fate of Empireis the most subjective, as Schama offers his own account of how the British shaped much of the modern wo...
stirring close. Of the volumes in the trilogy,The Fate of Empireis the most subjective, as Schama offers his own account of how the British shaped much of the modern world, and in turn were reshaped as a nation and a people by the experience of revolution, empire and war.Unlike the previous volumes, Schama only pays lip-service to the familiar narrative of British history. The great, the good and the unsung are all there--the Lake poets, Queen Victoria, Benjamin Disraeli, Mary Seacole, Winston Churchill and George Orwell--but Schama uses them as voices through which a different history of Britain can be heard. Ireland, India, the urban poor, suffragettes and striking miners are all restored to the national story. The emphasis on empire (along with India and Ireland the largest subject-entry in the index) is particularly welcome, although the finest hour of empire--the First World War--is dealt with all too briefly.Along the way Schama reveals himself once more as one of the world's finest cultural historians, with brilliant vignettes on Rousseau in England, the 1851 exhibition, Orwell's complex patriotism and much else, together with original insights on photography, the effect of empire on English vocabulary, and the post-war "colouring" of Britain. For beginners this is an excellent 21st century perspective on modern British history. For connoisseurs it is a refreshing reminder of how little British history the English really know. --Miles Taylor
stirring close. Of the volumes in the trilogy,The Fate of Empireis the most subjective, as Schama offers his own account of how the British shaped much of the modern world, and in turn were reshaped as a nation and a people by the experience of revolution, empire and war.Unlike the previous volumes, Schama only pays lip-service to the familiar narrative of British history. The great, the good and the unsung are all there--the Lake poets, Queen Victoria, Benjamin Disraeli, Mary Seacole, Winston Churchill and George Orwell--but Schama uses them as voices through which a different history of Britain can be heard. Ireland, India, the urban poor, suffragettes and striking miners are all restored to the national story. The emphasis on empire (along with India and Ireland the largest subject-entry in the index) is particularly welcome, although the finest hour of empire--the First World War--is dealt with all too briefly.Along the way Schama reveals himself once more as one of the world's finest cultural historians, with brilliant vignettes on Rousseau in England, the 1851 exhibition, Orwell's complex patriotism and much else, together with original insights on photography, the effect of empire on English vocabulary, and the post-war "colouring" of Britain. For beginners this is an excellent 21st century perspective on modern British history. For connoisseurs it is a refreshing reminder of how little British history the English really know. --Miles Taylor
more serious affair than the first.A History of Britain Vol Iwas free-range history: a fresh and at times iconoclastic survey of more than 1,500 years of the nation's story. Now Schama is more penned in, covering just a century and a half in 500 pages, and mixing it with the cockiest and wisest historians in the farmyard.The ingredients that made the first volume such a spectacular success are still there: highly visual prose, fine informative illustrations, insightful thumbnail sketches of all the leading players and above all a clever interplay between what happened and, often of more significance, what people thought had happened. But this time around Schama also has to weave his way through the complex narrative of the civil war and Protectorate, restoration, "glorious" revolution and establishment of empire. He does so with clarity and wit, but also with admirable sympathy for all the conflicting protagonists--the austere Stuarts, the reluctant hero Cromwell, the cunning Walpole, the gouty Pitt and the thousands of Scots, Irish and American, and the millions of Africans and Indians whose destinies shaped and were shaped by the forging of the British state in these years.Predictably, some history gets left out. Apart from a colourful depiction of Hogarthian London, social and economic history get short shrift, leading Schama, for instance, to imply that the British push to empire was largely the result of a popular addiction to narcotics: tea, coffee and opium. However, Schama's larger story--how a nation that was created out of a titanic struggle for liberty then went on to impose dubious dominion on much of the rest of the world--is told in a masterly and compelling manner. --Miles Taylor
panache of one of the world's best narrative historians? The answer is Simon Schama'sHistory 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 asThe Embarrassment of RichesandCitizens, as well as 1999'sRembrandt'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
panache of one of the world's best narrative historians? The answer is Simon Schama'sHistory 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 asThe Embarrassment of RichesandCitizens, as well as 1999'sRembrandt'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
panache of one of the world's best narrative historians? The answer is Simon Schama'sHistory 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 asThe Embarrassment of RichesandCitizens, as well as 1999'sRembrandt'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
Britain never had the kind of revolution experienced by France in 1789 but it did come close. In the mid-1770s the country was intoxicated by a great surge of political energy. Re-discovering England's wildernesses the intellectuals of the Romantic generation" also discovered the plight of the common man turning Nature into a revolutionary force. This power of the cult of nature enabled two things - to make man see and explore Britain in a way unimaginable a generation before and to pit democrat cosmopolitans against patriots. From the politics of wildness "A History of Britain" moves to the Victorian era and its question of how to create a better world in the face of upheaval. As the Victorian era began the massive advance of technology and industrialisation was rapidly reshaping both the landscape and the social structure of the whole country. To a much greater extent than ever before women would take a centre stage role in shaping society."
Advantages: Excellent, clear maps; avoids pro-English bias Disadvantages: Some rather odd colourschemes; doesn't cover anything in the last decade
...to interpret what little social and economic data exists from pre-modern times. Having said that, what is there is interesting, and there are some pages dealing with issues that are often overlooked: for example, wine imports in the Middle Ages.
One major strength of this book is that it is a history of *Britain*, not one of England. There is detailed consideration given to the events that led to the unification of Scotland, for example, and to the Vikings' activities in the Irish Sea. Because of the English bias of many otherwise excellent history books and programmes (SimonSchama's "A History of Britain" comes to mind), these happenings are not at all well known by the populace at large, and it is very pleasing to see them covered so comprehensively here.
A book like this, of course, stands or falls on the quality of the maps and charts...
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Advantages: Accessible Disadvantages: Simplistic & Inaccurate in places
...University trained historians, like myself, will find both the content and analysis of this book over simplistic and, at times, inaccurate. However, this book is not aimed at the History graduate, but rather at those whose Historical training ended at school, or those who simply wish an introduction to the long, and at times, complicated history of these Isles. The student or Graduate, on the other hand, would be better served by Schama's earlier classic, Citizens.
Schama's writing style is accessible, and echoes the captivating, personal style of the TV series which this book accompanies; those who enjoyed the TV series for its aesthetics and story-telling approach will not find this book a disappointment. However, those who seek to find a true 'History of Britain' in these pages will suffer disappointment - this book, essentially...
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