This is the first of several volumes by the sometime art historian (author of books on the French Revolution from the citizens' perspective and on Rembrandt), in connection with a TV series that aired on the BBC and the History Channel in 2000-01. This volume takes Britain from prehistoric times to the death of Elizabeth I in 1603. In size and style, it's a small "coffee table" book, pleasantly written and richly (if not lavishly) illustrated. Schama is especially helpful in providing the larger context for the Norman Invasion, the Magna Carta, the effects of the Plague, and the entire Henry VIII/break with Catholicism/reign of Elizabeth eras.
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The review of this Book prepared by David Loftus
A splendid storyteller of a historian, Simon Schama
unfolds the earliest history of Britain through a
wealth of captivating stories of a people. He brilliantly argues the causes for a nation's decline and fall, the reasons for allegiance, the factors that form a community, and examines the concept of Britain as one nation or many.
A splendid view of a nation's early history.
The review of this Book prepared by William Seay