A History of the British Isles by Jeremy Black


A History of the British Isles
Title : A History of the British Isles
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 1403900434
ISBN-10 : 9781403900432
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 400
Publication : First published January 1, 1996

From the earliest pre-history to the present day, Jeremy Black's vigorous and fascinating narrative explores the rich historical influence of the British Isles and the varied stages through which they have passed to achieve their present identity. Giving proper weight to all four, often fractious, components of the British Isles, Black provides the reader with a balanced and absorbing account--political, social, economic, and cultural--of an extraordinary shared history. In the second edition of this highly successful text, each chapter has been thoroughly revised and updated in the light of recent scholarship.

A History of the British Isles Reviews

  • Valentina Markasović<span class=

    A good overview; compressing more than 2000 years of history into a single volume is sure to leave room for improvement in some aspects.

  • Bianca

    I don't care what my classmates say, I thought this gave a very detailed yet clear overview of the history of Great Britain. Because the chapters are devided into very logical subchapters, it's also very handy when you need to find an historical or cultural background for an essay or whatnot.

  • Ole Bobby

    Fair overview of the broad strokes in the history of the British Isles.

    The inclusion of certain facts and events seem rather arbitrary and inane considering the scope and magnitude of the history within. While some of these tidbits are amusing, or interesting in their own right (like quoting an old traveler's guide describing the Welsh people as particularly fond of shaving below the waistband), mostly they leave you scratching your head in confusion as to why they were included.

    I didn't care much for the way the different themes within a century was divided without any serious attempt at putting them in context of each other. This arrangement of events made for a jumbly chronology that lead me to jump back and forth +/- 80 years several times within a chapter, which became tiresome in no time. Despite this the book gave me a better overall grasp of British history (Irish history – not so much) which probably was what it was intended to do.

  • Roger Woods

    By nature of the subject matter this book necessarily adopts a broad sweep approach. It does not go into detail but summarises many aspects of British history. As it was published in 1997 no doubt if written today there would be differences as history continues to be reinterpreted as new information and perspectives arise.

  • Atticus

    Quickly turns into a monotonous listing of events.

  • Cheryl

    Very informative but, just like most textbooks, rather dry.

  • Helen

    I am learning about from whenst I came!

  • Tuğçe

    türkçe ismi : İngiltere Kısa tarihi