59 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Narrative, May 1, 2005
This review is from: The Story of Britain: From the Romans to the Present: A Narrative History (Hardcover)
This book tells the fascinating history of Britain from Roman times to the present day. It is written as a chronological narrative, and is a good general history of Britain.
It explores not only the personalities that lived the history, but tells about how English culture was brought about. Through the ancient Celts, the invasions of the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Danes and the Normans, Britain was influenced by different cultures and traditions. These influences, along with the influence of Christianity, was molded into a country as diverse as those influences.
Most important events and personages are mentioned, some in passing and some at more length. In any case, a book like this won't be filled with minute details, but instead gives a broad view of the history of this great country. So if there's a specific time or event that you want to know more about, you'll find but small reference to it here.
At 700+ pages, this is not a short narrative. But the fact that it took so many pages to paint but a broad picture of the history of Britain says volumes about how rich the history of this nation is.
Written in a very readable style, and considering the type of history it is, I can't think of a better book for an overview of the history of Britain.
Highly recommended!
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun to read, July 29, 2005
This review is from: The Story of Britain: From the Romans to the Present: A Narrative History (Hardcover)
This is a non-pretentious history of England, mostly. There are no foootnotes and the three-page bibliography shows there is no original research. But for all that it is a good work, telling the story reign-by-reign from the time of the Romans till about 2002. After you read it you should read 1066 and All That, since you will be prepared to appreciate even more the humor of that great volume. I also found the account of Britain since the Second World War of great interest--maybe because it was turning into history what one has pcked up day by day during the period involved. The whole volume is easy to read and tells a great story.
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47 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A history of merry old England, March 10, 2006
This review is from: The Story of Britain: From the Romans to the Present: A Narrative History (Hardcover)
I have always enjoyed reading about American history, and to fully appreciate it, I feel I need to read about British history as well; it serves as something of a prologue. I went into Rebecca Fraser's Story of Britain optimistically, and while the writing is generally good, this is like a statue that looks good at a distance but close up, all the cracks are visible. The quality of this book is diminished by these "cracks".
The book covers Britain from Roman times to 2002. The first chapter deals with the Roman occupation of Britain, the next two with the early (pre-Norman invasion) kings and the remaining chapters cover each king's or queen's reign. For much of the book, these chapters are essentially biographies of the royals, but around the time of the Hanoverian kings (Georges I, II and III), the royalty fades into the background and this becomes a tale of Parliament and Prime Ministers.
The title for the British release of this book called it a "People's History" but that is appropriately changed for the U.S. release. This is not a history of the "people"; instead, it focuses almost exclusively on the people in power. The lives of the regular people are rarely discussed in any detail. Similarly, Fraser doesn't discuss much of the culture; there are a few references to Shakespeare and Dickens, but Shaw is only mentioned once, and many others not at all (including big-name writers like Oscar Wilde and - modern times - influential British musicians such as the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Who) who had an effect on culture and society.
That, however is not really a flaw; it's just that Fraser's emphasis is more on the royalty and the politicians. But there are real problems. There is the occasional anachronism (such as referring to early Brits as "English" long before they really qualified as this subgroup). Fraser also avoids certain issues; for example, while she has no problem discussing various mistresses, she seems to have an aversion about discussing the possible homosexuality of certain monarchs (such as Edward II), instead just allowing vague hints.
Most grating, however, are the outright errors that pop up in this book. She incorrectly defines the Diaspora as being caused by the Romans (it was caused by the Babylonians); she misnames the American naval hero as "Paul Jones" and she says Sputnik put a man in orbit. If she gets these things wrong, it is harder to rely on the rest of her material. The lack of any footnoting (she only provides a "Further Reading" list) exacerbates the problem.
Generally, however, Fraser is a reasonably good writer and if one assumes that the errors are infrequent (even if sometimes they are glaring), then this is an informative book as well. Overall, I rate it a low three stars; I cannot really recommend it and feel that there are probably better books out there on the same subject.
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