History of Britain & Ireland

by R.G. Grant

From the Roman conquest of 43 CE to the Norman conquest of 1066 and from the Elizabethan age of Shakespeare to the Iraq and Afghan wars of the 21st century, DK's History of Britain and Ireland traces the key events that shaped the societies living in the British Isles from the earliest times to the present day. It is the definitive visual guide to 5,000 years of British history. It includes a comprehensive timeline chronicling key events in the history of Britain and Ireland, in addition to "decisive moment" spreads that vividly describe turning points in British history. It also profiles the people who have had a significant impact on British culture and society through their inventions, discoveries, and ideas.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Reference, Ireland, British Literature, Historical, Medieval

400 pages, Hardcover

First published May 2, 2011

About the author

R.G. Grant is a historian who has written extensively on many aspects and periods of history. Among his more than fifty published books are: Battle, Soldier, and Battle at Sea (2005, 2007, 2008). He was also a major contributor to the ITV Visual History of the Twentieth Century (1999) and consultant for Chronology of World History (1995). He is also a contributor to 1001 Battles That Changed the Course of History, where earlier versions of his contributions to Britannica first appeared.

Reviews

[H (no longer expecting notifications) Balikov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had this for over a year and have consulted it frequently for books by Cornwell, Mantel, O'Brian, etc.

Positives - Haven't found a topic where it failed to add to my knowledge or help with a question. Beautiful graphic material.

Not so positives - Heavy, bulky, small type, and never quite as in depth as would allow "one-stop shopping."

[Allison Reimers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just finished using this book for homeschool. From the beginning through the Victorian Period, I would give this book four to five stars. From the Victorian Period through WWII, I would go for three stars, and from WWII to the present day, I would give it two stars. Whoever wrote it is not very proud of British colonialism, which is understandable, but they let their vitriol begin to warp the facts. They were also not much of a fan of Winston Churchill. That I could also understand, but they left venom on the page when they got to Margaret Thatcher. I prefer my history books to present the facts and be a little less biased. I had to do some personal editing with my son when I got to the end of this book, and I didn't appreciate it.

[Zoeisbookhooked · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was my history book for school. I just finished. My life is 10x better now that I’ve finished history. You know why? I HATE history. :)))

[Becki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous book. Well done. Not dull.

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. I’ve spent hours pouring over every page.

[Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love DK visual guides. I have about 20 or so and pretty much will buy anything they publish in this format. Some of them are more reference type of books to pick and choose what parts to read or skim through, while others just pull you in and you really want to read every page and look at every picture. I've always been fascinated with English history and this book is a great summary of almost every important event over the past 2000 years plus. There is not a lot of analysis - but this isn't the format for that type of information. It basically reads as a history timeline focusing on important events, people, items, discoveries, and places to tell the remarkable and complex history of the British isles.

I'll be reading a few books over the next couple of years to get the analysis that is so important as well. I know when I'm reading through those books I'll go back to refresh and contextualize some of that information with this book. Thorough, visually beautiful, and just an enormous amount of information makes this book a great read for someone interested in British history.

[Adam Dawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 / 5 for 'History Of Britain & Ireland' by RG Grant

This is one of the best of DK's massive 'history of' books. The 400 pages of this book cover all of Britain's recorded history, with mostly 2 pages per subject (a few smaller subjects get 1 page and a full-page image).

This book is chock full of illustrations and photographs, fact boxes, timelines, subject- focussed infoboxes, and page upon page of engrossing text, which is all written in an engaging manner.

Not a dull page, or a wasted sentence, engrossing throughout and beautifully presented.

5 / 5

[MK · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title of this book. On the cover, the word “Britain'' is written in large letters, and the word “Ireland'' is reluctantly added in small letters below that.
Wouldn't it be better for DK to have separate books for Britain and Ireland?

And overall, many dark images were cited, which did not convey the strong British Vibes.

Victorian workhouse, 1900
This photo was shocking. The idea that poverty is a crime is a far-fetched idea.

[Jared Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book did a fantastic job at thoroughly informing the reader of the various facets of Britain and Ireland. It did so wonderfully through visual images and interesting commentary. It splits it up into different eras. While parts were a little dense and less interesting to me personally, it was still very diverse in what it covered. I'd suggest this book to any Anglophile.

[Joe Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid DK book. Lots of pictures and decent information. Read in conjunction with watching some courses about the United Kingdom and it worked really well as a supplement to what I was learning.

[Jbussen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't finish. I had too many other things to do. I will pick it up after my vacation to the Smithsonian 2024, and then my planned vacation to Thailand 2025. A tour of Britain, Scotland, and Ireland is on my to do list.

Well laid out. Even my dad liked it.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kind of history book -- one with lots of pictures...

[Martin Tiller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was terrible at History at school but I found this book amazing in its breadth. I'm not sure whether it was meant to be read cover-to-cover but I managed it!

[Ismail Aljedadi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed it

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The basics. In color. Lots of pix. Cannot highlight on kindle however.

[Michael Randle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and informative

[Sarykah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this for British History class 🫡

[Hettie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Prettily laid out. Pity it was essentially a history of England which occasionally remembered to include Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Didn't really seem to put any effort into anything that wasn't English-related as well, as this book made some base errors with regards to some Scottish history. I can only imagine it was as careless with Welsh and Irish history - the very little parts which were included. Not reliable, and definitely would not recommend

[Brooke Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the best book on the history of Britain that I have ever read.

[Jason Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Regardless of what people think in the age of Google and Yahoo! there is still nothing like the DK series of "visual guides." This latest edition on Britain and Ireland is no different. Here in a single volume is a unique timeline of the people, places and things that make up the history of the islands. The art work is astounding and the anecdotal pieces support the narrative telling a story over almost 3,000 years. This is, as my Scottish friends would say, a "brilliant" book. They may not like the first part of the book however.

[Dominic Couture · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. There are so many vivid, beautiful images in it. Apart from Cambridge University Press and Jessica Kingsley Publisher, DK is my third favourite publishing house because they make up such beautiful books! I received this book as a gift, and have always enjoyed it!

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent primer for our anniversary trip to England and Wales. Learned enough to feel confident about what we were seeing over there, though probably not enough to make me not sound like an idiot whenever I tried talking to Brits about history.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love books with lots of pictures!

[biblioceraptor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have this on hand whenever you are reading any Anglo-centric Historical Fiction novel.
I wish I'd bought this ten years ago.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the book was somewhat interesting I didn't really learn anything new though the pictures and every day items were interesting.

[Francine Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rated this four stars because it is very rare for me to give any book the full five stars, especially history or other social science books . This is because there are always multiple perspectives on social science. however this book, with excellent photo illustrations, brings the reader into every period from prehistoric settlements to the early 2000s, describing the concerns and exciting new developments in all strata of British and Irish society. It seemlessly connects one era to the next, especially with it's "before and after" sidebars for each historical period.