A history of Britain. Volume 1, At the edge of the world? : 3000 BC-AD 1603

Change - Sometimes Gentle And Subtle, Sometimes Shocking And Violent - Is The Dynamic Of Simon Schama's Unapologetically Personal And Grippingly Written History Of Britain, Especially The Changes That Wash Over Custom And Habit, Transforming Our Loyalties. What Makes Or Breaks A Nation? To Whom Do We Give Our Allegiance And Why? And Where Do The Boundaries Of Our Community Lie - In Our Hearth And Home, Our Village Or City, Tribe Or Faith? What Is Britain - One Country Or Many? Has British History Unfolded 'at The Edge Of The World' Or Right At The Heart Of It? Schama Delivers These Themes In A Form That Is At Once Traditional And Excitingly Fresh. The Great And The Wicked Are Here - Becket And Thomas Cromwell, Robert The Bruce And Anne Boleyn - But So Are Countless More Ordinary Lives: An Irish Monk Waiting For The Plague To Kill Him In His Cell At Kilkenny; A Small Boy Running Through The Streets Of London To Catch A Glimpse Of Elizabeth I. The First In A Series, This Volume Paints A Rich And Vivid Portrait Of The Life Of The British People And Their Nation. "History clings tight but it also kicks loose,' writes Simon Schama at the outset of this, the first book in his three-volume journey into Britain's past. 'Disruption as much as persistence is its proper subject. So although the great theme of British history seen from the twentieth century is endurance, its counter-point, seen from the twenty-first, must be alteration.' Change - sometimes gentle and subtle, sometimes shocking and violent - is the dynamic of Schama's unapologetically personal and grippingly written history, especially the changes that wash over custom and habit, transforming our loyalties. At the heart of this history lie questions of compelling 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 - in our hearth and home, our village or city, tribe or faith? What is Britain - one country or many? Has British history unfolded 'at the edge of the world' or right at the heart of it? Schama delivers these themes in a form that is at once traditional and excitingly fresh. The great and the wicked are here - Becket and Thomas Cromwell, Robert the Bruce and Anne Boleyn - but so are countless more ordinary lives: an Irish monk waiting for the plague to kill him in his cell at Kilkenny; and, a small boy running through the streets of London to catch a glimpse of Elizabeth I. They are all caught on the rich and teeming canvas on which Schama paints his brilliant portrait of the life of the British people: 'for in the end, history, especially British history with its succession of thrilling illuminations, should be, as all her most accomplished narrators have promised, not just instruction but pleasure."--Publisher's description Covering over 1,500 years of Britain's history, Schama's book provides an illustrated overview from the early tribes to the first Roman invasion, the Norman conquest to the early seventeenth century, and the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Schama gives an overview, bringing history to dramatic life with a wealth of stories and vivid, colorful detail, reanimating familiar figures and events and drawing them into a powerful and compelling narrative. His perspective moves from the birth of civilization to their invasion and rule by a French-speaking aristocracy; through the religious wars and turbulence of the Middle Ages to the sovereignties of Henry II, Richard I and King John; through the outbreak of the Black Death, which destroyed nearly half of Europe's population; through the reign of Edward I and the growth of national identity in Wales and Scotland, to the turbulent religious and dynastic conflicts of the Tudors and the clash between Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots. Driven by the drama of the stories themselves, Schama explores a network of interconnected themes relating to the British nation state. Included are stories of the famous and infamous, such as: Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni; William the conqueror; Becket; Thomas Cromwell; Robert the Bruce; Anne Boleyn; King Alfred; as well as more ordinary lives such as those of an Irish monk waiting for the plague to reach him in his cell in Kilkenny, or, a small boy, running through the streets of London to catch a glimpse of his Queen. All are captured in a rich and teeming portrait in which Schama portrays the life of a great nation--From publisher description What makes or breaks a nation? To whom do we give our allegiance and why? And where do the boundaries of our community lie - in our hearth and home, our village or city, tribe or faith? What is Britain - one country or many? Has British history unfolded at the edge of the world or right at the heart of it? This title addresses such questions. Asks crucial questions about the nature of empire, journeying from celebrations of industrial and imperialist power at the Great Exhibition, to the catastrophic Irish potato famine and the Indian Mutiny. Alongside flamboyant heroes, like Nelson and Churchill, the author also recalls unsung heroines and virtually unknown enemies.