The Isles: A History

Very thorough and detailed book. It's exactly what I want for a full history of a geographical/historical area. It's what I've come to expect from Norman Davies.

I have found no historian whose work is as enjoyable as Davies.

Very readable and research extensive, thouough in understanding formation Ireland

This book is incredibly informative and in-depth. It's the perfect text for anyone who wants an over-arching understanding of the United Kingdom's origins and history.

Norman Davies is a knowledgeable historian, but I found this book to be unsatisfactory. As an overview of UK history, the narrative wanders aimlessly, pre-occupied with certain issues while brushing over critical themes with little more than oblique references. Professor Davies' ideological agenda explains some of this, since he seems determined to debunk traditional Anglo-centric versions the history which have failed to emphasize the French and Germanic roots of the British ruling class, and which have ignored or distorted history of the Celtic regions. While probably fair enough at some level, the author's attitude results in a book that reads at times more like a rambling and opinionated history of British history than a disciplined account of how England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales came to be what they are today. Adding to the difficulty are stylistic problems which mar the book. I found much of the first 600 pages almost unreadable, given to endless displays of factual virtuosity without much effort to place anything into perspective. Since I find it hard to explain exactly what I mean here, to give an idea let me quote more or less randomly (this from page 285): "After that the marriage of Alexander (r.1107-24) to an illegitimate daughter of Henri I, and Henri I's marriage to Edith-Matilda, daughter of Malcolm III and Margaret, and sister to four Scottish kings, tied the dynastic, political and cultural strands of the knot for several generations. David I (r. 1124-53), youngest son of Malcolm and Margaret, was brought up at the English court as David fitzMalcom, Earl of Huntington and Northhamton." There are places where Davies goes on like this for pages on end, and I defy anyone not already well-versed in the history to make much sense out of it. Anyone who is well-versed, of course, doesn't need this sort of book in the first place, raising the question of what audience Professor Davies is trying to reach. He changes gear abruptly in the latter half of the book, and from there on the narrative becomes more readable, although the problem of idiosyncratic focus if anything gets worse, the text devolving more or less into a series of essays on loosely-related historical topics. He starts to number his sections at this point, devoting one each to the British civil service, the aristocracy, the economy, sports, currency, demographics, the monarchy, language, parliament, the navy, and so forth. Through all this, major historical figures - Victoria, Churchill, Disraeli, others, along with a bewildering array of minor ones - appear seemingly out of nowhere in the context of one topic or another, then they disappear again without any sense of who they were or what impact they had on the evolution of their nation. The major wars in which Britain fought are mentioned, but again out of context. The author devotes more space to describing the rules of cricket at one point than he does to recounting the political or military history of the Napoleonic wars or the American Revolution. Even the great world wars of the twentieth century get less space than do expansive quotations from novels, poems and old histories which the author reproduces with abandon throughout the book. In the last few pages, Davies begins to pontificate openly, "taking off the mask", as he describes it. He announces his belief that the disintegration of the United Kingdom is imminent. This is clearly the conclusion to which he's been driving for over 1000 pages, and he may well prove right about this if the political leaders of the UK suffer from his same inability to focus on critical issues. I also read this author's single-volume history of Europe, to which I had many of the same objections. In his introductions, he proclaims himself a champion of popular, big-picture history, and declares his distaste for the trend among his peers for writing "more and more about less and less". I keep reading his work because I happen to share this point of view, hoping vainly to find a "big picture" in all this jumbled detail. I probably don't feel quite as negative about this book as all this sounds - I did learn from it. However, I would suggest to prospective readers that there must be easier ways than this to get an overview of British history

Excellent so far.Gives a different interpretation of prehistory and after.

I'm on a mind improvement course...trying to keep my mind in shape...history helps.

Thank you.

Questo libro è in assoluto il migliore per chi necessita studi approfonditi sulla storia di Irlanda e Isole britanniche. Lo avevo già utilizzato in prestito ma trovandolo molto utile ho deciso di acquistarne una copia. Il testo è inoltre completo di dettagliate mappe e grafici in appendice. In sostanza un gran bel volume.Unica nota negativa: mi è arrivato abbastanza ammaccato, non è la prima volta che alcuni tomi più voluminosi mi arrivano in queste condizioni. Spero Amazon controlli meglio certe situazioni.

Norman Davies is not exactly the most loved establishment historian though the Poles adore him and heap him with honours. His story of the Islands f the Mighty holds far too many home truths for English people and the lovers of "Kings'n'Queens" record keeping.It is far from dry, dusty academia as it is possible to get and far better intellects than mine pile praise on his storytelling ability. That he gets across so much detail is the wonder. If you wanted to use this as a reference book the Notes, Appendices, genealogies and maps are worth the price of the book alone.When I picked up the thousand pages my first thoughts were that I had bitten off far more than I could chew. It ended up with me reading deep into the night time after time. I shall read this again... and again.

Doesn't call it England before it was England. Or the UK. Removes the ethnocentrism from the research. Well done. Author also really slams postmodernism, which made it even more enjoyable.

Alles ist GutIch brauche das Buch für mein StudiumIch empfehle das Buch für anglistik StudentenDas Buch wurde mir auch empfehlt von jemandemDankeschön

Having previously read "Europe : A History" by Norman Davies I knew what to expect. His style is engrossing, He acknowledges that there is nothing in his book which cannot be found in other sources (which he credits / discredits where appropriate). What he does is to bring it all together in a highly individual and readable form.