A History of Britain: Volume 1

Before this book I didn't know a Stuart from a Tudor, now I do. The author's philosophy is that history should be as fun to listen to as possible. He does that with ease with this volume. He really gets most interesting when he is delving completely into some event or person such as the Battle of Hastings and William the Conqueror or the reign of Queen Elizabeth.

The book ends abruptly leaving me wanting for more. I'll probably use one more credit and get Volume II.

Schama is a talented writer, and his narrative flows easily, but it is really just a popular history of the English Monarchy from William the Conqueror through Elizabeth 1. Even then, while he hits on all of the major points of that time frame, he obviously felt that there were really only a few Monarchs who deserved more than a cursory mention, leaving this very much a book in the Great Man of History tradition.

William I, Edward I, Henry II and Beckett, Henry III and Eleanor and the Tudors all get lots of press. Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Chaucer, Shakespeare, the War of the Roses, Richard III, the Crusades and many other aspects of British history are given scant mention.

Thorne does a fine job as narrator, and it is a well written book, with a sly wit, but the subtitle is a bit misleading.

Listened to this while hiking at Big Bend National Park. Loved every minute of it. In fact, I got so distracted listening to the section involving the Black Plague, that I hiked further than I had planned so I wouldn't have to stop listening. It was extremely well narrated. The writer does exactly what he set out to do in the premise, and I would recommend this to anyone who has even the vaguest interest in the history of Britain.