The history of Britain is turbulent, bloody, and peopled with
dramatic characters. No one is better equipped to tell this story
than Simon Schama, a great historian whose talent is for bringing
history to life and recreating scenes and characters with
extraordinary vigour and power. Moving from the early pre-Roman
days of the Saxons and Celts, through the Roman invasion and the
resistance, to the Middle Ages and its complicated succession of
kings and queens, through the Tudors (Henrys VII and VIII,
Elizabeth 1st), the Civil War of the 17th century and the
Restoration, through the American War of Independence, through
Queen Victoria and the incredible spread of Empire in the 19th
century, and culminating in Britain at the beginning of a new
millennium, A History of Britain is a stunning narrative,
compellingly vivid and profoundly informative. Schama will be
writing with awareness of an American audience, drawing in key
moments of American history where it plays a role in the narrative,
as well as exploring the history of the Irish emigration to the US.
The book will be extensively illustrated in colour and black-and
white with photos and illustrations drawn from the TV series.
The series A History of Britain, written and presented by
Schama, is slated to begin in October 2000, and we will be timing
publication to coincide. Any new book by Schama is a major event,
but this book promises to be the highpoint of his remarkable career
and the moment when his work reaches an American audience that is
larger than ever before.
