A History of Britain: At the Edge of the World? 3500 B.C. - 1603 A.D. (Hardcover)

by Simon Schama (Author) "Writing his Britannia in the glory days of Elizabeth I, William Camden, the antiquary and historian, saw no reason to be coy..." (more)
Key Phrases: northern earls, Archbishop of Canterbury, East Anglia, Edward the Confessor (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
What do you get when you combine the resources and ethos of the BBC with the literary panache of one of the world's best narrative historians? The answer is Simon Schama's A History of Britain, the first volume of which accompanies the BBC-History Channel 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 as The Embarrassment of Riches and Citizens, as well as 1999's Rembrandt'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 barons and 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. But, 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 neighbors. If history must have gloss, then let it be written and presented like this. --Miles Taylor, Amazon.co.uk

From Publishers Weekly
One suspects that Schama harbors a secret desire to be the Venerable Bede, whom he describes as a "consummate English story-teller, an artful retailer of wonders, a writer of brilliantly imaginative prose." In earlier works on the French Revolution (Citizens) and the golden age of Holland (The Embarrassment of Riches), he perfected his balance: market appeal is never sacrificed to condescension. This new volume is a model of literate elegance, enlivened by good humor and bursts of pugilistic directness: "The Faerie had warts all right," he writes of Elizabeth I. His task is not easy: British national identity is no longer axiomatic. Schama steers away from a Churchillian litany of patriotic glories, and from the revisionist pieties of the Left. In practice, this means, that unlike Landscape and Memory and Dead Certainties, this is not a work of great conceptual boldness. Its strengths lie rather in the detail. From his opening chapter, in which a prehistoric Orkney community is described as a "seaside village," Schama is ever alert to the unexpected. We learn that Hadrian's wall, far from being an impregnable fence, was designed to control the flow of men and goods; that Saint Patrick was not Irish (he was "a Romano-British aristocrat" by birth); and that the Battle of Hastings, at six hours, was one of the longest of battles in medieval history. His book has all the hallmarks that he admires in Bede, his medieval forebear: vigor of language, the capacity to evoke and clear-eyed common sense. (Oct.) market.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Talk Miramax Books by Hyperion; 1 edition (October 25, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786866756
• ISBN-13: 978-0786866755
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #106,018 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eminently Readable Work by a Serious Scholar, January 9, 2001

By	Stephen M. Kerwick (Wichita, KS United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The overlap between excellent scholarship and exceptional readability in today's history writing is exceedingly slim. Schama's History of Britain is as good an example as the market holds today. While it obviously doesn't treat the subject area in the same depth as his his texts on Dutch and French subjects or on Art history, the area covered here is immense. From my standpoint, Prof. Schama performs a herculean task simply to distill the material into such a usable and enjoyable work. I am quite hard pressed to think of a another such work of excellent writing on a large subject area other than Shelby Foote's Civil War volumes, which seem somewhat comparable in every positive respect. Additionally, one can open A History of Britain and read with enjoyment at almost any point and for any period of time. The characterization of key players matches that of the best novels and Schama's writing compares favorably to a somewhat similar work, Winston Churchill's History of the English Speaking Peoples. I recommend disregarding the less favorable reviews following as unfair in perspective. The combination of a powerful scholar of Simon Schama's caliber with such graceful writing is almost unheard of and the alternative of tedious fact recitation is no choice at all. This is a book to purchase twice, once for yourself and again as a gift for a good friend.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Back to real history, October 23, 2000

By	Peter Hack (Birmingham, W.Mids United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This is history as it should be: written with wit and perception. His telling phrases convey meaning - even with anacronisms slipping in occasionally! It does what an overview should do - it drives you to read more. It sweeps over thousands of years and picks out key turning points and explains them. Schama puts the 'story' back into history. A welcome addition to any non-specialist's bookshelf who wants a knowledge of the period with an enjoyable read.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent overview of British history, December 10, 2000

By	Andrew E Werchniak "andrewwerchniak" (Etna, NH United States) - See all my reviews

Whether or not you enjoy this work will depend in large measure on the type of experience you are seeking. If it is linear narrative, elegant prose with a dash of wit, historical accuracy, and attractive pictures, you will be well served. If you seek an in-depth analysis of ANY of the topics covered, however, you will be sorely disappointed. In order to provide this and still cover the vast expanse of time he seeks to review, Schama's text would need to balloon to at least five volumes (a prohibitive size for a commercially-oriented publication). The novice historian will appreciate the fact that no prior familiarity with British history is assumed; the often bewildering array of cultural groups is clearly outlined and enough maps pepper the text to give the reader an appreciation of the role geography played in the development of the British isles. The more experienced individual will enjoy the lively pace, excellent focus, and interesting anectodotes. Overall, I highly recommend it and would definitely purchase it again.