In his prologue, Schama promises to strike a balance between conventional political/monarchical history ("great man history, " I often hear it called) and social history. When he actually manages to do this, as he does brilliantly in his discussion of the plague's impact in Britain, the book is wonderful. The problem is that he rarely actually does it. Most of the book is meat-and-potatoes great man.

Another bad habit, he has a tendency to mix myth and folklore with historical scholarship in such More...

This is the book that kickstarted my anglophilia when I was about 13 years old. I mean, I was already trending that way in my book choices (My Victorian thing started early), but this sealed the deal. It's a history book, over 400 pages that deals with thousands of years of history. And I just devoured it, in about a week. At the age of 13, where I shouldn't have found the reading remotely interesting. He makes it into high drama that keeps you turning pages. It's presented in a geniunely intere More...

Read 7/07-2/8/08
A History of Britain is the companion book to the excellent BBC television program. Schama is a gifted writer and his passion for history shines on every page. This is a lively, interesting account of British history, chock full of facts and pictures and an appealing dry wit. I adored the television series (Schama reminds me of an erudite Elvis Costello, which amused me) but the book, of course, is much more detailed and quite fascinating. I particularly liked the reoccurring the More...

عند ظهور حركة اجتماعية جديدة في مجتمع ما لها تأثير على مستوى الحياة العامة, سيطرح السؤال: كيف ظهرت هذه الحركة الجديدة وما مسبباتها, وكيف لها أن تظهر في هذا الوقت ولم تظهر قبل سنوات. ينطبق هذا الأمر بشكل واضح على التغيير الذي قد يحدث في دولة ما. كحدوث ثورة أو إصلاح ديني وسياسي له تأثير عام. ما سبب هذه الثورة, وما نتائجها, وإلى أي مرحلة قد يصل لها الإصلاح الديني أو السياسي. قد نلجأ إلى تفسير سريع يعطي إجابات لأسئلة كثيرة تطفو على السطح. وبعد سنوات قليلة من حدوث التغيير, أو من لحظة حدوثه, يدخل التغ More...

It would be entirely unfair to compare Simon Schama with Arthur Bryant. Schama is much too serious an historian for that. But sometimes his prose style here did kind of remind me of the pompous old reactionary. But this is a book to accompany a BBC programme, so allowance should be made, and the writing is good, is almost like reading ‘literature’. Sometimes though I felt that Schama might just be carried away with style over substance. I know that he calls the work ‘A history’ rather than ‘The More...

In this vast compendium of British history, renowned author Simon Schama has a strong theme running throughout. Just as the subtitle suggests, so does the book cover of a solitary lighthouse in a rough, whitewash sea that Britain is an island: it always was and it always will be. And because of that, it was often cut off from the rest of continental Europe, advancing on its own and without the aid of a unified continent (even if there was never such a thing!).

A History of Britain is one of those More...

A little light holiday reading??? Well, no, but interesting nonetheless.
Though slow-moving at times, this book is an interesting perspective on English history – perhaps interesting to me just because of my family's British origins (and I have to admit, research for my own writing). Schama is well-respected and a capable writer, but as with any history you will always feel that something could have been delved into further or that something was left out, in part, I presume, as this is a companio More...

When I found out that Simon Schama's amazing documentary "A History of Britain" is coming out in book form, I jumped at the chance. The documentary was a fantastic work, standing out from the usual History Channel fare by its sheer unapologetic willingness to tell a good story without dumbing it down for the lowest common denominator consumption. For all that, it was still what good history should be: a damn fine story.

The book is not just the film in print form. It expands and rearranges the ma More...

I was disappointed with this book. I acquired it years ago when it was first published and was featured on seemingly every popular history book list at the time. It's been sitting on my shelf ever since and I thought it high time I read it.

I wasn't missing much all these years.

On the plus side, it's an easy read - big print, glossy pages, lots of full-color images. In fact, I'm tempted to classify this as a coffee table book of British history, as opposed to any serious academic venture. It's a More...

Having read a history of the USA after a visit to that country, I became aware that my knowledge of the history of my own country was woefully weak and based on schooldays history lessons of famous events not linked by any context of overall development or world impact. I saw some of the TV series that accompanied this book and was overcome with an instant dislike of Mr Schama based entirely on my jealousy of the mans intellect and success. In a fit of embitterment and in order to get back at hi More...

Volume 1 of Schama's "A History of Britain" is an excellent overview of Britain's early history. It is important to know that this is an overview... a 400 page volume covering many centuries of history. If you want a more in depth history, I would recommend that you search out books about more specific topics. However, for an overview of Britain under Roman, Saxon, and Viking control and continuing on through William the Conqueror, Henry II, Richard I, Henry VII, Mary, and up to the Elizabethan More...

Very good, though not for the novice just interested in the basic history of England.
Written in volumes, this one went from 4000bc to 1600ad. I think he should have lessened his scope a bit. A lot of the good stuff was left out.

This was a disappointment. I was looking for a book that could help me fill in the gaps in my knowledge of British history. It was a very English history with almost no history of Wales or Scotland save a few military encounters. The author’s glib tone can by amusing but not always informative. I spent more time on Wikipedia than the book itself, filling in further gaps left by this predominantly king-by-king history. I came away with almost no sense of what life would have been like for common More...

A history of Britain that starts out in prehistoric times, continues through the Roman era, and from the 9th century on, really becomes a chronology of the British kings and queens, since from this point there is nothing recounted that does not have to do with the royals. To this extent, as with many British histories that I have read, this audiobook is not aptly named. (Perhaps the actual book it is an abridgement of covers other, non-royal material.) That being said, it is still a very informa More...

i really enjoyed it and would have given it five stars except for the fact that i almost gave up reading it through the first chapter. it seemed so incredibly unfocussed and the author seemed unsure what exactly was going on. then i struggled with the long and winding sentences with sooooo many adjectives and insertions. i used to use sentences like that in my essays when my thinking wasn't clear enough for concise writing. i think what convinced me not to put it away was when i read this: "towa More...

I read this in an attempt to broaden my general knowledge about the broad sweep of history in the British Isles. It covers alot, up to the end of the Elizabethian period, and since he is an historical fiction writer normally, he knows how to tell a good story. Obviously, in his efforts to keep it within one volume, he had to leave alot out...so I still have lots of other interesting avenues to pursue before I can consider my quest sated. Interestingly, and on a Monty Pythonesque completely diffe More...

A beautifully written and accessible history of not just the dead white guys and gals of the English Isles. Schama has had some criticism because he made a deal with the devil (ie. the BBC and the History Channel) and these histories were made into high quality historical television. This book may not offer the most stringent critique of British history (though, it is not bad ... not bad at all) but it does tell a wonderful story and manages to elevate the discussion out of total myth, all-the-w More...

Simon Schama is one of the best history writers. He uses the English language to perfection in bringin to life English history. While it is still hard to keep the various kings, their protagonists and their times straight in one's mind if you don't refresh your memory from time to time his writings bring them into focus.
This is the first of a three volume set which begins with evidence of life in Scotland's Orkney Islands and ends with the death of Elizabeth I. All the great players and events More...

i don't have a lot to say about this. i began it with *zero* knowledge of british history - most of my knowledge of henry the eighth comes from half-noticing tv commercials for "the tudors." accordingly, i probably missed a few of the references. schama assumes a rudimentary knowledge of the u.k., its geography and, at times, a familiarity with shakespeare (which i possess to about the degree of your average high school senior). if you're reading this, you will almost certainly start off with a More...

If you are looking for a book that will give you a general history of Britain then this is not the book you are looking for. Schama rigidly sticks to the politics of the English monarchy and covers little else. Scotland and Wales are mentioned only when their histories cross with England. Social history is barely touched upon, technological and scientific history is ignored and Schama has a terrible habit of mythologising his subjects.

On the whole, I came away from this book terribly depressed. More...

You might want to quickly brush up on your Tudor history before embarking on the dazzling "Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel. Schama's history of England is so chatty and approachable that I'd recommend a perusal as an amuse-bouche before "Wolf Hall." Now I know my Boleyn, my papal schism and my Thomas Cromwell (as opposed Oliver Cromwell, his little nephew and the subject of an unperformable Hugo play). But after Mantel's massive novel is off of my hands, I'll return to this book. Early history rarel More...

Whooooeeee. Good stuff. I didn't even know Britain had a history of record going back that far. The chapters on Roman Britain and the years of Nordic and Viking rule and terror are really, really interesting and for me, at least, more fascinating than the much more widely discussed medieval and Tudor years. Also striking is the wretchedness in which people we used to live. Very, very compelling.

Not the best book i've read or the clearest. Or the most accurate. You got the big overview, although of England not Britain. But the chapters didn't always flow so well; he'd start talking about someone new and, if you didn't already know who they were, you would be lost. a very convential view of history. I did find the parts about the plague years and their effect interesting.

I first encountered Simon Schama on the BBC and loved his slightly sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek portrayal of British history. I am delighted to say that the books are even MORE of the same.

He doesn't so much look at history chronologically, although that is how it is arranged, as through themes, events, and personalities. A lot of information, well presented. Who could ask for more?

If you've never read Simon Schama, you should. His light, parenthetically humorous style makes the rather dense topic of this book a breeze. This book covers Britain's history from its earliest known antecedants through the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign. It gives a broad overview that makes the convoluted history seem much simpler than it is, yet retaining the quirkiness of the people that seems to characterize so much of early British history. The only reason I gave it four stars instead of fi More...

This was probably the best one of Schama's three volume history of Britain, because it covered events up through the reign of Elizabeth I. Schama is a great writer and historian, but he is much better on his works of cultural history than on this comprehensive survey, which I think was done for his BBC series. It was a good refresher.

The narrative of the book was highly entertaining and informative from 3500 BC to about 1500 AD. With a few inconsistencies in the Black Death, only noticed because I recently read a book about the period. But the real failing was the Elizabethan/Tudor period, it was very melodramatic but not very easy to follow along and lacking in the kind of narrative of the earlier parts of the book. But otherwise a good read.

Alas, gone is the wonderful analysis and mining of detail that was so prevalent in 'Citizens.' Of course he has to cover a huge chunk of time, so it is in part understandable. Still, I wonder if Schama was not really meant for the long view. He seems at his best when his focus is more narrow.

Erudite, sparkling and entertaining. But also uneven and ratrher traditional in terms of being a great people's story of kings and queens. You do not get an overview of societal, economical, cultural technlogical transformations and trends. Instead you are told or retold some rippin good yarns bereft of any refresehing new analysis or insight.

High calorie, low nutritional value.

excellent piece of work. maybe not as well written as Churchill but does not suffer the fault of monarch fawning. at times the collapse of scope is a bit frustrating as obvious things that need to be considered get lost.