Book description
* 'Great Britain? What was that?' asks Simon Schama at the start of
this, the second book of his epic three-volume journey into Britain's
past. This volume, The British Wars, is a compelling chronicle
of the changes that transformed every strand and stratum of British
life, faith and thought from 1603 to 1776. Travelling up and down the
country and across three continents, Schama explores the forces
that tore Britain apart during two centuries of dynamic change -
transforming outlooks, allegiances and boundaries.
* From the beginning of the British wars in July 1637, for 200
years battles raged on - both at home and abroad, on sea and on
land, up and down the length of burgeoning Britain, across Europe,
America and India. Most would be wars of faith - waged on wide-ranging
grounds of political or religious conviction. But as wars of religious
passions gave way to campaigns for profit, the British people did come
together in the imperial enterprise of 'Britannia Incorporated'.
* The story of that great alteration is a story of revolution and
reaction, inspiration and disenchantment, of progress and catastrophe,
and Schama's evocative narrative brings it vividly to life.
Simon Schama
is University Professor of Art History and History at Columbia
University and the prize-winning author of fourteen books, which have
been translated into twenty languages. They include
The Embarrassment
of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age
;
Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution
;
Landscape and Memory
;
Rembrandt's Eyes
;
the
History of Britain
trilogy and
Rough Crossings
,
which won the National Book Critics Circle Award. He has written widely
on music, art, politics and food for the
Guardian
,
Vogue
and the
New Yorker
. His award-winning television work as writer and presenter for the BBC
stretches over two decades and includes the fifteen-part
A History of Britain
and the eight-part, Emmy-winning
Power of Art. The American Future:
A History
appeared on BBC2 in autumn 2008.
