# Recommend books on the history of Great Britain **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 18, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-history-of-great-britain/308822 "2005-06-18T17:19:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-history-of-great-britain/308822/1 "2005-06-18T17:19:15Z")
I wasn’t sure whether to ask about books about English history, British history, or what. I’m going to London in a couple of weeks. I’ve been a few times beofre, but usually didn’t have much time to myself. This time I will, and I plan on visiting a lot of museums and the like. The problem is, I don’t know a whole lot about the history of Great Britain, particularly pre-19th century. I have probably picked up a little more than the average American, but that isn’t saying much. I suspect some of the sights and artifacts I’m likely to see would have a little more impact if I understood their place in the grand scheme of things. So - any good books that will catch me up quickly? I realize this may be a tall order, considering the long history involved, but if anyone’s got some favorites, I’d be grateful for the suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-history-of-great-britain/308822/2 "2005-06-18T17:50:21Z")
[_The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0192893262/ref=pd_sim_b_3/103-1910303-2680626?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance) by Kenneth O. Morgan. [_A Shortened History of England_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140233237/ref=pd_sim_b_2/103-1910303-2680626?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance) by George Macaulay Trevelyan. [_British History for Dummies_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0764570218/qid=1119117703/sr=8-3/ref=pd_bbs_3/103-1910303-2680626?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Sean Lang. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-history-of-great-britain/308822/3 "2005-06-18T17:55:02Z")
Also, the BBC television documentary series [_A History of Britain_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00006RCKI/qid=1119117703/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-1910303-2680626?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846), available in a five-disc DVD set. Your public library may have it, or you can rent it from Netflix. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-history-of-great-britain/308822/4 "2005-06-18T18:23:37Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Also, the BBC television documentary series [_A History of Britain_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00006RCKI/qid=1119117703/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-1910303-2680626?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846), available in a five-disc DVD set. Your public library may have it, or you can rent it from Netflix. The series is also based on three terrific books by historian Simon Schama (who narrates the series). They’re highly recommended. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-history-of-great-britain/308822/5 "2005-06-18T23:25:52Z")
After you finish those you will get all the jokes in **1066 and All That**. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-history-of-great-britain/308822/6 "2005-06-18T23:32:41Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The series is also based on three terrific books by historian Simon Schama (who narrates the series). They’re highly recommended. Glad to hear that, I bought the three volumes from my book club but haven’t started on them because they were out of stock of the second volume. I also enjoyed the series on the Beeb. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-history-of-great-britain/308822/7 "2005-06-19T02:15:14Z")
If you’d like a more in-depth look at English history (maybe afer you come home?) Alison Weir has written a set of excellent, engaging books spanning from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry VIII. I’m a little over halfway through _The Wars of the Roses_ now. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-history-of-great-britain/308822/8 "2005-06-19T03:14:57Z")
Winston Churchill’s HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLES … you can stick to the UK parts. I agree, though, with **Dr Fidelius** : _1066 and all that_ is the best short version of English history, with only two dates and a few memorable kings, and it goes right up to the end of history. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-history-of-great-britain/308822/9 "2005-06-19T21:16:45Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The series is also based on three terrific books by historian Simon Schama (who narrates the series). They’re highly recommended. Not by anyone outside of England they’re not. His TV series was much criticised as not being so much a history of Britain, but of England, plus mentions of the rest when they were of consequence to England. Scotland vanishes from sight for thousands of years, Wales hardly gets a look in. Everything is related in terms of what it meant to England. He also managed to refer to Elizabeth I of England as British, and England as an island nation. :rolleyes: It can’t be an easy task producing a cohesive history of an island that for most of history has not been a unified nation. But Simon Schama certainly didn’t manage it. He should have stuck to what he knows; the history of England and forget the pretence of a British History. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-history-of-great-britain/308822/10 "2005-06-19T22:39:01Z")
I went recently for the first time. I didn’t know I was going until a few weeks before, so I only had time for the Dummies book mentioned above. It got the job done. I knew who was who and why certain places were noteworthy. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-history-of-great-britain/308822/11 "2005-06-20T08:07:43Z")
> [@Futile Gesture](#): > > Not by anyone outside of England they’re not. His TV series was much criticised as not being so much a history of Britain, but of England, plus mentions of the rest when they were of consequence to England. Scotland vanishes from sight for thousands of years, Wales hardly gets a look in. Everything is related in terms of what it meant to England. > > He also managed to refer to Elizabeth I of England as British, and England as an island nation. :rolleyes: > > It can’t be an easy task producing a cohesive history of an island that for most of history has not been a unified nation. But Simon Schama certainly didn’t manage it. He should have stuck to what he knows; the history of England and forget the pretence of a British History. Well, I’m outside of England, and I recommend it. So there’s that. I was also talking about the books, not the series, and the books do go into Scot and Welsh history a bit more than the BBC-produced screen adaptation, although you are correct - the emphasis is on English history. Your problem, essentially, is a nitpick. If the books had been titled “A History of England” would you still have a problem? Because you can pretend they are. All it takes is to mentally change one word. You seem to be attaching far too much importance to a trio of history books - they are supposed to be just three books among many, not the final word on British history. I certainly don’t see any pretence here, just some well-researched and extraordinarily well-written popular history. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-history-of-great-britain/308822/12 "2005-06-20T12:11:39Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Your problem, essentially, is a nitpick. I don’t consider definitions of nations a ‘nitpick’ in historical terms. A resident of Israel should appreciate this more than most. > [@](#): > > If the books had been titled “A History of England” would you still have a problem? Of course not. > [@](#): > > Because you can pretend they are. All it takes is to mentally change one word. Interesting. Are there any other words I should “mentally change” in this history? With this little trick I can get the books to say anything I wish! > [@](#): > > You seem to be attaching far too much importance to a trio of history books - they are supposed to be just three books among many, not the final word on British history. I certainly don’t see any pretence here, just some well-researched and extraordinarily well-written popular history. I’m not attaching any importance to it, or casting doubt on it’s accuracy or value. Just saying that as a history of Britain, which is what it claims to be, it concentrates on one part to the practical exclusion of the rest. If anything, this demonstrates the problem the OP faces in deciding which history to read. Every historian has their own take on things, and the history of Britain is long and complex. Any book that tries to tackle it whole is brave indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Doris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Sir\_Doris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Doris)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-history-of-great-britain/308822/13 "2005-06-20T15:01:26Z")
You might consider Peter Ackroyd’s **London: the Biography**. Obviously a London centric view of history, but if given thet’s where you’re heading, you might enjoy the more specific references to places/streets/monuments etc that you’ll be able to visit. ---
**Author:** ![MrAlpen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@MrAlpen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAlpen)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-history-of-great-britain/308822/14 "2005-06-20T16:11:13Z")
I’d have to second Tracy Lord’s appreciation of Alison Weir’s books: I think they’re great (although IANAH). Quite a lot to read before a holiday, though. I’d go for “[This Sceptred Isle](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/102-9022172-3228129)”, which gives you the Romans to the Victorians in one handy volume, just right for orientating (!) your historical perspective. It even mentions the Scots and the Welsh a bit, so that’s alright then. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-history-of-great-britain/308822/15 "2005-06-20T16:33:18Z")
> [@Futile Gesture](#): > > I don’t consider definitions of nations a ‘nitpick’ in historical terms. A resident of Israel should appreciate this more than most. The name of a nation is hardly a nitpick. The name of a book, is. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-history-of-great-britain/308822/16 "2005-06-20T17:58:16Z")
**Futile Gesture** ’s comments illustrate the problem of writing the history of a country that has only been unified for around 200 years from the point of view of the dominant partner. What would be interesting would be recommendations of histories that give appropriate recognition of the Irish, Scottish and Welsh contributions to British history.