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A History of Britain Volume 2: 1603 - 1776
 
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A History of Britain Volume 2: 1603 - 1776 (Hardcover)

by Simon Schama (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 544 pages
  • Publisher: BBC Books (4 Oct 2001)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0563537477
  • ISBN-13: 978-0563537472
  • Product Dimensions: 25.5 x 20 x 3.7 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 24,336 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
The second volume of Simon Schama's BBC History of Britain: The British Wars, 1603-1776 is a more serious affair than the first. A History of Britain Vol I was free-range history: a fresh and at times iconoclastic survey of more than 1,500 years of the nation's story. Now Schama is more penned in, covering just a century and a half in 500 pages, and mixing it with the cockiest and wisest historians in the farmyard.

The ingredients that made the first volume such a spectacular success are still there: highly visual prose, fine informative illustrations, insightful thumbnail sketches of all the leading players and above all a clever interplay between what happened and, often of more significance, what people thought had happened. But this time around Schama also has to weave his way through the complex narrative of the civil war and Protectorate, restoration, "glorious" revolution and establishment of empire. He does so with clarity and wit, but also with admirable sympathy for all the conflicting protagonists--the austere Stuarts, the reluctant hero Cromwell, the cunning Walpole, the gouty Pitt and the thousands of Scots, Irish and American, and the millions of Africans and Indians whose destinies shaped and were shaped by the forging of the British state in these years.

Predictably, some history gets left out. Apart from a colourful depiction of Hogarthian London, social and economic history get short shrift, leading Schama, for instance, to imply that the British push to empire was largely the result of a popular addiction to narcotics: tea, coffee and opium. However, Schama's larger story--how a nation that was created out of a titanic struggle for liberty then went on to impose dubious dominion on much of the rest of the world--is told in a masterly and compelling manner. --Miles Taylor

Review
While not achieving quite the impact that previous programmes in a similar vein have done, Schama's history has nevertheless distinguished itself as a major television event. But is the book its natural home, or the TV screen? Needless to say, an author as accomplished as Schama has rendered the book quite as impressive as its TV equivalent, and this remarkable history veers between subtle and deeply penetrating insights set against shocking and violent panoramas. At the heart of this history are questions of great importance for Britain's future as well as its past. What makes or breaks a nation? To whom do we give our allegiance and why? And where do the boundaries of our community lie? All these questions are treated in the epic narrative that Schama unfolds, and all the great figures of British history are here: from Oliver Cromwell to Bonnie Prince Charlie, and from Christopher Wren to Guy Fawkes. The illustrations are, of course, nonpareil.

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, readable and exciting history, 9 Dec 2002
By R. S. Stanier "Robert Stanier" (London) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
The second of Schama's beautiful volumes technically covers 1603-1776, but (naturally) spends most of the time discussing the era around the Civil War: it was here, after all, that Britons actually spent considerable energy deciding what sort of country they were: blank canvas after blank canvas was begun only to be torn up, until the monarchy cum Parliamentary democracy compromise was reached.
Schama writes on two levels: the first is just to tell you what happened and to cover off the classic stories along the way, hence longish excursus on e.g. the Great Fire of London, the building of St Pauls, Wolfe in Quebec etc. The second is to offer his own vision for the forces behind what was going on.
Since Schama's vision is invariably fresh and insightful, this is a constantly illuminating read: he can shed light on topics you think you know well, as well as just lucidly explaining the things you knew nothing about.
Occasionally, though, this makes it a strange work. His explanation for the bringing to trial of Warren Hastings, for example, is that the Governor of India was a vicarious scapegoat for Britain's failure in America: though fascinating, that has to be a very idiosyncratic view, and yet he doesn't flag this up. All this means, I suppose, is that you shouldn't read Schama to get the standard account of things, there may be other books that do that job better.
Rather, read Schama's history for his unceasingly fresh vision.
Moreover, he expounds his themes magnificently, for example, the way Britain gravitated away from the "right" (mercantile) to the "wrong" (governing) sort of empire, or in how responsible Charles I actually was for the onset of the Civil War.
Unafraid to back the out of favour Whig view of history (that it was all inevitable progression) with relatively few qualifications, Schama's confidence is invigorating.
One minor quibble is a fallout from his TV narration, where things, instead of being "probably true", are "not altogether unfounded" or instead of being "reasonable" are "not without reason". After a while, this grates.
But this is a trivial thing.
All in all, this is simply magnificent.
I started with Volume 2 and am now beavering through Volume 1 in an effort to get myself on track.
Much, much more than a book of the series.
A classic.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Schama at his best. Compelling, superb, lucid and readable., 21 Jan 2003
By Peter Fenelon - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This is by far the best of the three volumes of Schama's History of Britain. Volume 1 needs more space to tell all the stories Schama wants to discuss; Volume 3 loses a little coherence because of its thematic rather than purely narrative approach. Volume 2 is the jewel in the crown though - an account of the 160-odd years from the start of King Charles I's reign through to the start of the American Revolution - the years that saw England transform into Britain, and from a marginal state at the edge of Europe into one of the Great Powers.

The themes of the book are nationalism, power, trade, and the complex relationship between government, monarchy and the people - Schama is a master at juxtaposing the stories of all three, showing the chains of chance, cause and influence that shape history. He quotes original sources liberally, writes in a wonderfully fluid and unaffected style, and has chosen a sensible set of illustrations to accompany the text.

Since Schama covers 150 years in the sort of space he'd previously used to cover the previous 4500 years, there is plenty of room for background, for personality and character (both the author's and those of the protagonists) to be revealed, and for analysis of the what-if's and might-have-beens.

This is narrative history at its best - a book as powerful as Schama's "Citizens" which singlehandedly rekindled my interest in European history.

Absolutely superb - a master at the peak of his talent.

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44 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and well written and very imformative., 4 Nov 2001
This book will help any age of student. Its contents are explained well and in a language that is very easy to comprehend. This is a book that can easily be read from cover to cover which I cannot say for some History books. I feel that anybody will find this book very interesting even if they are not students studying History. The book helps you understand the television series more because all the facts are written down in front of you. This book is this best gift anybody could by a student for christmas.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and informative
The three volumes in this series by Simon Schama give a good overall of British history. Well written and packed with information.
Published 7 months ago by PhilosopherKing

5.0 out of 5 stars A real page-turner
I read this close upon having finished (devoured rather) volume 1, and this is as good if not better. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Didier

4.0 out of 5 stars Still compelling
For me, this second volume of Schama History of Britain was the weakest of the 3, but still manages to come off as a wonderful narrative of the English Civil War and the dawn of... Read more
Published on 3 Oct 2003 by A. Davies

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent read.
Schama's book avoids pomposity. The language is sometimes surprising (and I include in this the typing errors 'perpeptuated'(sic): 'constuitional'(sic)and, even more curiously on... Read more
Published on 5 Jan 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars Schamma's Sharp Wit and Tact Yeild Winner
In typical Schamma fashion, the latest installment in his "History of Britain" series is a winner. Read more
Published on 13 Oct 2001 by joshualabove@hotmail.com

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