Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A history of the British Isles in the light of parallel events on the Continent. Challenges the traditional picture of Britain and provides the view of the Isles being constantly buffeted by continental storms and being transformed by them. Culminates with the crisis confronting Britain in the face of the European Union.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

For a specialist in Eastern European history like Davies (emeritus, London Univ.) to attempt to write a synthesis of British history from the Stone Age to the present might seem reckless. As in his last book, Europe: A History, Davies will likely engage some of his readers while enraging the rest. Davies examines how the various component parts of "the Isles"--England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales--interacted with one another and the rest of the world. Consequently, a great deal of attention is given to the English colonization of Ireland, Scotland's relationship with England before and after union, and the creation of empire. These interactions, which form the crux of the book, are well argued and conceptually sound. Davies also recounts how men such as Thomas Babbington Macaulay used their historical writings to create an image of "Great Britain" during the 19th century. Davies's use of popular culture, such as music, is well integrated into the text and appendixes. The result is enjoyable reading that is well researched in the secondary literature--but it's not the revolutionary narrative that its publicity claims. Specialists will likely criticize Davies on a number of points, for example, the brevity of his analysis of the English reformation. Recommended for public and academic libraries.--Frederic Krome, Jacob Rader Marcus Ctr. of the American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

Following his acclaimed Europe: A History, British historian Davies has written a wondrous, landmark chronicle of the British Isles--already a bestseller in the U.K.--that challenges conventional Anglocentric assumptions throughout. Davies situates prehistoric Britain as part of a Celtic world stretching from Iberia to Poland to Asia Minor. Unlike most historians, who stress Britain's Anglo-Saxon heritage, Davies shows that the isles' fourfold division into England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales arose from a complex mixing of peoples in a constantly fluctuating patchwork of ethnic communities, statelets and kingdoms. Bursting with fresh insights on nearly every page, this magisterial narrative, scholarly yet down-to-earth and engrossing, reveals Davies at his iconoclastic best. He declares that the Viking legacy is much greater than traditional historians admit, and that the Battle of Hastings in 1066 was not a famous showdown between the English and French, but an intricate scramble for the final Viking spoils in England (valiant English King Harold II was leader of the Anglo-Danish party). The dense narrative really hits its stride with serial wife-slayer Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, and Davies gives full play to the distinctive yet intertwined cultural, economic and political affairs of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Plumbing the roots of English (and British) prejudice, parochialism, xenophobia and imperialism, Davies includes vastly illuminating mini-essays on such sundry topics as class divisions, the loss of empire, race relations, the rise of organized sports, and the steady advance of a standardized English language. He closes with a provocative forecast: "The breakup of the United Kingdom may be imminent," a prediction he bases on the resurgence of nationalist consciousness and the fact that what he sees as the U.K.'s raison d'etre--the perpetuation of empire--has vanished. An advocate of Britain's full integration into the European Union, he chastises the U.K. for clinging to America's apron strings, yet he adds that a fuller embrace of the Continent might only hasten the U.K.'s breakup. No one who cares about Britain's past or future should miss this superb book. Color and b&w photos, maps. 50,000 first printing; author tour. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

CHOICE Review

Davies's massive history of Britain and Ireland will stimulate (and irritate) scholars and people who simply like to read history. Davies breaks much academic crockery in his revision of what is usually called British history. Why? Perhaps because he is not certain that the UK will survive. Perhaps because he thinks that by writing bad history, historians have obstructed UK participation in European unification. Not only have historians muddled the story of England with that of Britain and of the UK and of the isles, they have also misrepresented English history as being uniquely different from the rest of Europe. When the Times serialized bits of Davies's book, some proud-to-be-English readers complained that by Europeanizing what customarily has been Anglicized, it was disloyal and too favorable to the Roman Catholic Church. Even such critics must concede that The Isles is a lively and provocative read. It is very good at helping readers to see the ways literature and historians have shaped how one sees the past. And it is bursting with unexpected treasures; for instance, its 63 appendixes include the proud Cornish "Song of the Western Men." All levels. D. M. Fahey; Miami University

Booklist Review

In Europe (1996), Davies, a professor of history at the University of London, copiously unfolded the entire course of European history. His purview in his latest book is more circumscribed, but with the narrower focus he can burrow deeper into his subject. And, fortunately, he is able to maintain the remarkable fluidity he demonstrated throughout the previous book. Davies insists that too often historians have consigned the histories of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales to secondary status compared to England's history; and the major premise of this book is to place on equal footing the history of all four of these "nations and cultures." And an ancillary emphasis is placed on the "Isles" as an integral part of Europe and its historical trends as opposed to viewing them as having early on taken a historical course all their own. Davies is as at home in Roman Britain as he is in contemporary "devolved" Scotland, and, in turn, he makes readers at home on every page of this significant book. --Brad Hooper

Kirkus Book Review

As the United Kingdom uncertainly faces integration with Europe abroad and devolution at home, historian Davies (History Emeritus/London Univ.; Europe: A History, not reviewed) delivers a narrative that is as opportune as it is ambitious and provocative. In contrast to conventional anglocentric histories, Davies emphasizes the contributions of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland to British history. He discusses the successive stages of history in the Isles involving the Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, and Vikings, and he describes the steps that royal houses such as the Plantagenets, Tudors, Stuarts, and Hanoverians took toward the political consolidation of the two islands. He also traces the waxing and waning fortunes of various institutions associated with British nationalism (such as the Royal Navy, the aristocracy, the Protestant Supremacy, and the English language). Davies's structure is idiosyncratic: A detailed treatment of a single episode symbolizing a particular period is typically followed by a broader summary of the period, then by an analysis of changing historiography about the times. Likewise, some events are emphasized at the expense of others (e.g., Scotland's ill-starred Darien colony in the late 17th century is discussed at length, while the 1922 treaty finally granting self-government to Ireland is mentioned in perfunctory fashion). Yet his delight in overturning nationalist icons is wickedly infectious: Although Queen Elizabeth I is usually viewed as a model of toleration in contrast to 'Bloody Mary,' Davies holds that she merely chose different victims (namely, Catholics and Puritans) than her sister. More importantly, he opens a wider vista on events usually confined to English-only perspectives'noting, for instance, that the English Civil War was strongly affected by developments in Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. An exuberantly iconoclastic overturning of Albion's sacred cows that simultaneously enlarges our understanding of the past. (8 color and 25 b&w pp. of illustrations, 12 maps'not seen) (First printing of 50,000)