History of Britain (Vol 2) [Paperback]

Simon Schama (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2003

Change, sometimes gentle and subtle, more often shocking and violent - shattering ideals and shifting perspectives - is again the dynamic of this, the second volume of Schama's history of Britain. "The British wars began on the morning of July 23 1637, and the first missiles launched were stools. They flew down the nave of St. Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh and their targets were the Dean and Bishop of Edinburgh..." The first round of the British wars had been fired, and fired on grounds of faith. Over the next 200 years, other battles on other battlegrounds would be waged and would rage - both at home and abroad, on sea and on land, up and down the length of burgeoning Britain, and across three continents - Europe,America and India. Most of the British wars would be wars of faith - waged on wide-ranging grounds of political or religious conviction - between Republicans and Royalists, Catholics and Protestants, Tories and Whigs, colonialists and natives. Many of the British battles would be fought on battlefields far from Britain, as far afield as Quebec and Calcutta. Yet the wars of the British remain essentially British wars - fought by the British, for the British and between the British. But who exactly were the British and what were they fighting for ? The answers unravel as the the story of "The Wars of the British" unfolds. It is a story of revolution and reaction, of inspiration and disillusion, of progress and catastrophe, of huge gains and massive losses, of battles fought against the odds, as when Robert Clive stood at Plassey, or James Wolfe fell at Quebec.

Editorial Reviews

Review

While not achieving quite the impact that previous programmes in a similar vein have done, Schama's history has nevertheless distinguished itself as a major television event. But is the book its natural home, or the TV screen? Needless to say, an author as accomplished as Schama has rendered the book quite as impressive as its TV equivalent, and this remarkable history veers between subtle and deeply penetrating insights set against shocking and violent panoramas. At the heart of this history are questions of great importance for Britain's future as well as its past. What makes or breaks a nation? To whom do we give our allegiance and why? And where do the boundaries of our community lie? All these questions are treated in the epic narrative that Schama unfolds, and all the great figures of British history are here: from Oliver Cromwell to Bonnie Prince Charlie, and from Christopher Wren to Guy Fawkes. The illustrations are, of course, nonpareil. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: BBC Books (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0563487186
• ISBN-13: 978-0563487180
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #536,511 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Simon Schama is a professor of art history and history at Columbia University, and is the author of numerous award-winning books; his most recent history, Rough Crossings, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction. He is a cultural essayist for the New Yorker and has written and presented more than thirty documentaries for the BBC, PBS, and the History Channel, including The Power of Art, which won the 2007 International Emmy for Best Arts Programming.