A History of Britain, Volume 1: At the Edge of the World, 3000 B.C. - 1603 A.D.

I found it to be very helpful in understanding the recent history of Britain of which I am more familiar. To an American such as myself, British history as it is taught over here is extremely dull. This book is quite the opposite and has helped me to understand such issues as Ireland, the split from the Catholic Church and the formation of the Anglican Church. As a student of American history and politics, I enjoyed seeing the roots of what is so often taken for granted in our political institutions.

Very interesting review of British history, sorted by reigns rather than events and people. Strictly a political history, little about social, religious or artistic history.

As a U.S. reader, I found this very accessible. I suspect those more familiar with Great Britain and its history would like it even better, particularly many of the geographic references that were lost on me.

I generally steer clear of abridged versions, and this book certainly confirms me in that general rule of thumb, because I was disappointed at several points to realize that we were picking up the story a century or more after the period we had just been discussing. On the other hand, I learned a great deal about what was happening in England before the Battle of Hastings (a period I had previously known almost nothing about) and I really enjoyed the discussions of Tudor England, the main outlines of which were already familiar. Thus, while I remain disappointed that the work is only offered in an abridged format, I recommend it anyway and I do plan to buy all three volumes.

The book proved to be very interesting and quite detailed in its telling of early British history. Its focus stays squarely on England (its Kings, politics, and religious conflicts) and does not deviate for a broader view of Europe. The whole series is a must listen to book.

This is a captivating book about Early Britian that makes the hours in your car just melt away. The History of Britian is excellently written and read. The only other thing that would have made the book better is if the author himself would have read it--He has a mezmorizing voice that just sucks you right into these events--That said, this book goes far in illustrating the events of early Britian to the reader. (The video series is also great but discusses everything in much less detail.)

The sample is the author narrating the introduction. I was very disappointed when a stuffy gent took over the rest of the narration. The content, however, overcomes the boring narration.

British history is very dense, and Schama does a great job of weaving the story together through pertinent events that ultimately unfurl into momentous changes for the country.

Schama is a very good writer, and keeps the audience in mind. This volume is less an exhaustive history than a view into a country at a particular period of time. He stops the clock often to "show" rather than "tell", which makes for a great listening experience.

I enjoyed this volume a great deal, the book was arranged in chronological order, from Roman Empire right down to the post-colonial era, a great book for people who want a concise history of the United Kingdoms and the British Empire. It showed both the glorious side as well as the dark sides, also you may want to find the Documentry version produced by the BBC.

Schama is one of my favorite historians. Ordinarily I could not recommend anything abridged, but in his case, I think it works. He packs so much into his works ("Citizens" for instance) that you can easily get overwhelmed. By cutting this book down to size, it becomes easier to digest in an audio format, whereas listening to the thousand page original would be exhausting.

Schama has given us an exhilarating history of Britain. But the reading of this series, by Timothy West, may well be the finest reading ever recorded.