British History for Dummies - Sean Lang

...sort of basic knowledge of British history gained by completing a British secondary school education, even if they thought history lessons were tedious and didn’t pay much attention. I would hope this book would make them think that history can be entertaining.

While I was at school I thought most history lessons were boring and irrelevant to my life.

Now history has become a hobby for me as I enjoy visiting historical ...
...are Major Documents, Things the British Have Given the World (Whether They Wanted Them or Not), Places to Visit, and Britons Who Should Be Better Known.

Another way of getting through the history more quickly is to use the icons at the side of the pages, and the shaded text, to discover bits you could miss out. These icons show facts that you need to know to make sense of what’s coming (do read these), as well as looking at evidence ... more

*** The Author ***

Sean Lang studied history at Oxford, has written conventional history books and reviewed textbooks in The Times Educational Supplement.

He has been teaching history for over twenty years in schools and university, and he thanks his students for helping to inspire him to write this entertaining history book, which is not the kind usually found in school.

Other “For Dummies” books by this engaging historian that I intend to read are European History and Twentieth Century History.

*** Who Would Appreciate It? ***

I believe that the readers who would appreciate this book most will have the sort of basic knowledge of British history gained by completing a British secondary school education, even if they thought history lessons were tedious and didn’t pay much attention. I would hope this book would make them think that history can be entertaining.

While I was at school I thought most history lessons were boring and irrelevant to my life.

Now history has become a hobby for me as I enjoy visiting historical places, and reading fiction books set in the past, as well as any entertaining factual books I can find.

I found the book helped bring the history of my ancestors to life in an enlightening as well as amusing way.

*** Favourite Quotes ***

Non-British readers should note that the author uses much modern colloquial English, and I think that a broad knowledge of English culture is also desirable to fully understand the jokes, as well as the facts.

As a guide, if you appreciate the following quotes, I would hope that you would like the whole book.

“Warriors rode around with severed heads tied to their saddles, hoping to get the benefit of the victim’s spirit: I suppose they thought it would give them a head start.” page 47

“Just when Edward seemed to have won, a low-ranking Scottish nobleman called William Wallace (who looked nothing like Mel Gibson and certainly wouldn’t have painted his face blue) gathered the Scots together, murdered some English officials, and ambushed the English at Stirling Bridge.” page 136

“By then Pitt was a sick man, and he collapsed and died rather dramatically in the middle of a speech in the House of Lords. You can still see people in the House of Lords today who seem to have done the same thing.” page 251

I think that some of the best humour can be found in the headings and sub-headings. How’s this for some great song titles, by some cool sounding bands - sorry that should be topic headings. There hundreds of other funny headings including those based on common expressions and film titles.

Hey, Hey, We’re The Monkeys! - The Neanderthals.
Plough the Fields, Don’t Scatter – The Neolithic Revolution.
Ruled Britannia – The Romans.
Saxon, Drugs. And Rock n Roll – The Saxons.
I Saw Three Ship Come Sailing In – The Vikings.
Come On Mary, Light My Fire – Burning at the Stake.
Boom Shake the Room – The Gunpowder Plot.
Oliver! – Cromwell.
Do The Locomotion – James Watt.
Any Old Iron – Severn Bridge.
Hey, Sugar, Sugar – Slave Trade.

There is also much sombre information too, with decidedly ominous headings such as Death in the Trenches, Death in the Dardanelles, Death at Sea, Death on the Somme, and Death in the Mud. Some subjects, like these World War I tragedies are sacrosanct.

*** Structure ***

Most of the book is in chronological order, with lots of facts presented in a concise form, interspersed with differences of interpretation and humour. This helped my memory retain the information.

I usually like reading it in order so that the pieces of history I do know about fall into the correct sequence and make better sense. However, because of the concentrated form, I find it best to read small chunks at a time when reading the parts that I know little about.

A comprehensive Table of Contents and Index made it easy for me to find people and events when I wanted to read about them out of order, to help appreciate a visitor attraction, book or film.

I noticed that the deeper into the book I got, the more detail the author went into. When considering that the book starts with the Stone Age, it seems out of proportion that about a third of the book is on the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Is this because modern man is more interesting, that just more information is available, or does this period seem more relevant to our lives now? I think the answer is a bit of all these reasons.

I think there is a good mixture of English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish history, showing the deeds of leaders, as well as what life was like for the masses. Readers from Scotland, Wales and Ireland may think that I am biased because I am English though, and prefer more from their country’s point of view.

For me school history was about learning facts and then using them to answer exam questions. I just scraped through with a basic pass grade at O level using this boring method, but I now find history a fascinating subject. Discovering former ways of life of ordinary folk, in addition to leaders, is now a hobby, rather than a chore.

*** Express Options ***

It can’t have been easy fitting thousands of years of history into a 400 page book. If this is still too long for you, turn to the author’s 4 pages of Ten Top Turning Points near the end of the book. His other top tens are Major Documents, Things the British Have Given the World (Whether They Wanted Them or Not), Places to Visit, and Britons Who Should Be Better Known.

Another way of getting through the history more quickly is to use the icons at the side of the pages, and the shaded text, to discover bits you could miss out. These icons show facts that you need to know to make sense of what’s coming (do read these), as well as looking at evidence to see if certain stories are true, different interpretations and how the past has shaped the present.

*** Summary & Recommendation ***

While the author states that this book was not written with the intention of following any examination syllabus, I can’t help thinking that had I come across it while in secondary school, reading this alongside a formal textbook would have stimulated my interest and helped me memorise basic facts.

I found this book often funny and irreverent, but always as accurate as it is possible to be. It made me realise that history isn’t a dead subject, but a changing one, as new evidence may suggest that previous interpretations could have been, or were, wrong. I now think historians are like detective whose work stretches across centuries.

Read this book to discover in a concise and entertaining way the key events in British history and their settings. The key characters famous and infamous are all here, with an idea if how life was for the rest.

I found it an entertaining way of improving my understanding of the way Britain has evolved from the Stone Age to the early 21st century, in other words from Neanderthal to Blair.

There is a colour illustrated hardback edition or a paperback version. The Amazon website currently has a Look Inside feature, which shows the full list of contents, introductory chapter and index.

The paperback has served me well, but you may prefer the hardback especially while it is on special offer at Amazon. Their website has a Look Inside feature for this book.

For me, this is a book to buy, rather than just to borrow.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for those wishing to improve on a very basic knowledge of British history.

Paperback: 444 pages
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; 2nd Edition (10 Nov 2006)
ISBN-10: 0470035366
ISBN-13: 978-0470035368
RRP: £15.99
Amazon Price: £10.39

Hardcover: 492 pages
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; Illustrated Edition (17 Oct 2008)
ISBN-10: 0470994681
ISBN-13: 978-0470994689
RRP: £24.99
Amazon Price: £16.49
 

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