A History of Britain: At the Edge of the World? - 3000 BC-AD 1603 v.1: At the Edge of the World? - 3000 BC-AD 1603 Vol 1 (BBC Radio Collection)
Product Details | Similar Products | Customer Reviews | Author: Simon Schama List Price: £15.65 Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours  |
|
 | Product Details: Audio Cassette Release Date: 02 October 2000 Publisher: BBC Audiobooks Ltd ISBN: 0563477598 Rating:   Sales Rank: 396844 | | Look for similar books by subject:
| | Customers who bought this item also bought:
| | Customer Reviews: Well written and informative (17 November 2008)The three volumes in this series by Simon Schama provide a well written and informative overview of British history. I preferred them to the TV series. Informative and entertaining (11 October 2007)This History of Britain vol. 1 is by no means exhaustive but that's not what it intends nor claims to be. Instead, you get an engaging page-turner, as addictive as the best detective or adventure novel, told by an expert in the matter and a consummate story-teller to boot. I bought this after having seen the BBC series but, trust you me, the book is even better! Racing with rulers (15 August 2005)This delightful romp through Britain's history from Roman to Elizabethan times is enchanting reading. Although mis-titled, since Schama dispenses with two millennia in but a few pages, his engrossing prose keeps your attention fixed through every page. He hasn't, of course, given us a "history of Britain" in any but a limited sense. The theme is the governance of a nation with expanding and contracting borders, rulers and those aspiring to rule drifting on and off the stage, and the politics of ruling such a land. The "life" of the country - the tillers, shepherds, artificers, fishermen, are pushed offstage unseen. Not intended as an academic study, it's an entertaining overview. Schama's prose is often evocative. A prime example is his account of the preliminaries leading to the invasion at Hastings and the encounter itself. We witness, almost as participants, the victories and waning of Edward, king of Wessex. His successor, Harold, crosses the reach of England to defeat invading Vikings prior to the rush south to counter William of Normandy. At the battle site, Schama brings you onto the battle site, viewing the impending clash first from the English side, then from the Norman. You sweat and reflect, facing determined enemies prior to the onslaught. He moves you with the troops, thrusting, dodging, suffering as the battle rages. By the time you reach the pages of William's consolidating his victory, you are breathless. Schama is rarely detached from events throughout this book, and he has you at his side at every significant circumstance. His discussions of the governance of Britain make compelling reading. Just as we thought the Domesday Book was little more than a tool of Norman oppression, Schama depicts William as "the first database king" bent on achieving equitable enforcement of justice. In later years, Henry II would continue that tradition, ruling medieval Europe's greatest empire. Without delving into tedious detail, Schama makes clear that ruling Britain at any level is a dynamic process. Although the successive monarchs may appear a continuum separated by some violent events, he demonstrates that whoever sat on the throne must perform the task of ruling. The methods may vary, sometimes harshly imposed, but tradition repeatedly impairs the march of change. Anyone failing to understand this will fail to understand Britain. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada] | |
