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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply Sensational!,
This review is from: A History of Britain (3500 B.C. - 1603 A.D.) (VHS) (VHS Tape)
Simon Schama's 'A History of Britain' is an absolute 'must have' for anyone interested in history and/or PEOPLE, for it is the PEOPLE who inhabited the Sceptred Isle which Schuma makes his focus in this wonderful series, with even 'old chestnuts' like The Battle of Hastings taking on a new glamour as Schama asks us to imagine we were Norman knights or Saxon foot soldiers on the brink of the bloody battle.A thousand fabulous locations and silently 'dramatised' footage of events bring this history of Britain into visual context, yet it is Schama's chatty, polemic style of narrative which give this series its slightly 'revisionist' kick (Thomas Becket is described as a 'cockney', Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II are said to have 'fancied' each other.) The history of the British Isles has sort of been 'done', and as a former history student myself, I knew it would take something pretty special to make this history 'exciting' and 'new' again. Schama's 'History of Britain' succeeds where so many similar series have failed; it throws a delightful and exciting new light upon a history we THOUGHT we all knew. Highly recommended.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
History by telling stories,
By John Kimball (GameCaravan.com, United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A History of Britain (3500 B.C. - 1603 A.D.) (VHS) (VHS Tape)
THE HISTORY OF BRITAIN is exciting history even for people with only a casual interest. Its not a typical documentary with events and dates and speeches. Rather Simon Schama tells us stories about the people, struggles, causes, battles, and motivations of the people who shaped one of the most interesting countries and empires. Two of the three parts in the series are completed and ran on the History Channel. The first part goes thru Henry VIII and covers stories of some of the storied names: Romans, Vikings, Saxons, Normans, Alfred the Great, William the Conqueror, John and the Magna Carta, the Edwards, the Henrys, the War of the Roses, the Hundred Years War among many others. Its great for dwelling on WHY and HOW did something happen rather than the WHAT. Why were the Normans able to conquer England and why did William the Conqueror try? The second part covers Queen Elizabeth up to Queen Victoria. The stories Simon Schama particular focus on include Queen Elizabeth vs Queen Mary, the Stuarts vs Cromwell, Parliament, and William of Orange, the English vs the Scots, the French imperialists vs the British imperialists, and the American Revolutionaries vs Parliament. A particularly interesting story covers the American Revolution from the British point of view. Another covers how democracy developed in England bit by bit and struggle after struggle. Why did it develop in England and not other places? People can identify with historical names as people with real stories more than dates and events and Simon Schama uses this with great success in making history come alive in this excellent series.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Good Time,
This review is from: A History of Britain (3500 B.C. - 1603 A.D.) (VHS) (VHS Tape)
I enjoyed this series immensely. Because of the vast period of time the series covers Mr. Schama is forced to brush over many events and individuals, but I don't believe that it suffers because of it.I suppose one can quibble with the fact that he never mentions Sir Thomas Moore, breezes past the Hundred Years War, ignores Richard III, his brother Edward IV, and gives Mary and Elizabeth just a cursory look. Yet I never found the series to suffer because of it. Schama is telling the story of the evolution of the island of Britain into what we now call England. He looks at critical times and events that played such a major role in that evoution, such as the Reformation,the conflict between Henry II and Beckett and the Black Death to name just a few. It's an ambitious undertaking and I believe that Mr. Schama accomplishes the task with style. As far as a documentaries go its reminds me of the productions from the seventies. Only a minmual amount of recreations using actors and a heavy amount of narration while we view cathedrals, crops in the fields,works of art and of course Mr.Schama. The impressive thing is I never felt my attention waver. I was engrossed by all six parts and I plan on watching them again one day soon. Mr. Schama is a witty writer who enertains while he instructs and lectures. He's never dry and he does a nice job of balancing his history between the political and socio/economic schools of thought. Though I really didn't learn anything new from his survey of Britain I was entertained and challenged by his perspective. And that's what history is all about. Not just learning facts and dates, but constantly striving for a new perspective and understanding on events that have occured long ago or just last week. It's a good series and I recommend it to the seasoned history buff or the newcomer who's just getting his/her feet wet. Enjoy.
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