A Complete History Of Britain (DVD)

...'A History of Britain' is a 15 part overview of British history, that was first shown on BBC 1 from September 2000. These come in a 6 DVD set, with 3 episodes per DVD, plus a final disc with additional features. These come in a nice, stiff, glossy cardboard wallet, and cardboard sleeve, with the signature image on both - three wooden beams on a beach, with Schama walking in the background. In the title sequence to each episode, these beams are lit, ...
...Schama presents his history in a wide-ranging, but by no means comprehensive series of essays. His style is that of a lecture for television. He tells history as a ripping yarn, set in the relevant location, talking to camera as he walks around the site. The range of locations is stunning, and his pieces to camera are inter-cut with pictures of manuscripts, props and the occasional reconstruction of the events being described. Sometimes these can ... more

WHAT DO YOU GET
Simon's Schama's 'A History of Britain' is a 15 part overview of British history, that was first shown on BBC 1 from September 2000. These come in a 6 DVD set, with 3 episodes per DVD, plus a final disc with additional features. These come in a nice, stiff, glossy cardboard wallet, and cardboard sleeve, with the signature image on both - three wooden beams on a beach, with Schama walking in the background. In the title sequence to each episode, these beams are lit, like a beacon.

CONTENT AND STYLE
Schama presents his history in a wide-ranging, but by no means comprehensive series of essays. His style is that of a lecture for television. He tells history as a ripping yarn, set in the relevant location, talking to camera as he walks around the site. The range of locations is stunning, and his pieces to camera are inter-cut with pictures of manuscripts, props and the occasional reconstruction of the events being described. Sometimes these can be surprisingly effective, one standing out in my mind is where Henry II and Thomas Becket meet on horseback near a lone oak on a ridge. There are also some readings of contemporary material by well known actors. The music for the series is composed by John Harle on period themes, and performed by top notch names, such as Emma Kirkby.

The first part of the collection, certainly until the episode on Cromwell and Charles II (Revolutions on Disc 3) follow a pleasantly conventional chronological style. From the 18th century onwards, Schama is more selective in what he describes, almost as if he is keen to focus solely on those events which have shaped modern Britain. It is perhaps overstating it to say that until 1700, Schama gives us a richly painted narrative, based on kings and battle, while from 1700 we have themes illustrating elements that made us what we are today, but it conveys something of the transition in style.

Through the series, Schama tries to draw out certain key themes which run through British history like a scarlet thread: the notion of Britain, and how this sense of Britishness shaped events; the role of religion and how the wars of religion went on into the 18th century; the uneasy relationship between England and its empire, not just in the Caribbean, Africa and India, but also Wales, Scotland and most of all Ireland; and how change and evolution have melted into the national character, out of a ferment of ideas and revolutions.

The additional features include an interview with Mark Lawson, which is worth looking at, two other pieces which explain Schama's approach and what he is trying to achieve, as well as the inaugural BBC History Magazine Lecture. There is a biography, which could have been included in a flysheet rather than there, plus some of the music from the series. A couple of the songs are quite haunting, particularly "Three Ravens" which is the backdrop to the execution of Mary Queen of Scots.

PERSONAL EVALUATION

STRENGTHS
Schama has an engaging style. Although his voice is very nasal, his enthusiastic manner grips you. He has also very cleverly written this as a history for television - it is not a book that is then transferred to the small screen. Each of the episodes is a rounded essay. This is particular true of the parts dealing with the more recent history.

Schama also has a flair for highlighting how the interaction of personalities affected the course of history. In my job, I see politicians close up, and the personal dynamic should not be underestimated in determining the outcome. There are three 'set pieces', where he shows us one key relationship between two people: Henry II and Thomas Becket (in Dynasty); Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots (The Body of the Queen), Winston Churchill and George Orwell (The Two Winstons).

Schama is not afraid to highlight the social changes, but never does so at the expense of neglecting the political and military. For example, the episode King Death focuses on how England coped with losing a third of its population, with the effect on social mobility. For Schama this is more of a story than Henry V or the War of the Roses. Equally, he devotes over 10 minutes to the first major feminist, Mary Wollstonecraft, while consigning the Duke of Wellington to a minor bit part.

Schama provides lots of revealing details, which make the events so much more alive, some of which are quite gruesome, such as the descriptions of the deaths of Becket and Simon de Montford. I was curious to learn that Anne Boleyn learnt many of her courtly wiles in Mechelen, not far from where I now live.

Some of the pieces are very timely. Schama goes into great detail over the negotiation of the Act of Union between England and Scotland in 1707, even telling us of the bribe of £386,000 paid (the equivalent money), which is an issue not without relevance today. The treatment of Ireland, both under Cromwell and during the potato famine of 1845-6, emphasise the extent of the English mistreatment of the Irish which has been the background to the Troubles.

WEAKNESSES
Inevitably, Schama cannot and does not cover everything in equal depth. Having watched the recent David Starkey programme on William III, it seems to me that Schama neglects the enormous contribution William made. Depending on your particular viewpoint, it is possible to argue that Schama is too anglo-centric to the neglect of the Scots, Irish and Welsh, yet I think he can be partly exonerated, since he wants to show how the central dynamic is how England expansionism and imperialism affects its neighbours.

I personally did not agree with his take on the British Empire, but this is almost certainly due to having read Niall Ferguson's 'Empire: How Britain made the modern world' around the time I watched the episodes 'The Wrong Empire' and 'The Empire of Good Intentions'.

I also felt there were huge gaps after 1800, although what Schama does provide in those episodes, which are really lectures on a theme, is interesting and well argued.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT
This is excellent, informative television. It does not set out to be definitive, but it is entertaining, intelligent without being too high-flown or pretentious. For me, the most memorable episode is the one on Henry II, where Schama makes a compelling case that history has been unkind to this, our greatest medieval king.

Schama's gift is in identifying the true giants of our history, and explaining why they matter. He devotes 4 episodes to the 16th and 17 centuries, but does so in a way that you do not feel this is disproportionate. He also takes time to explain how many of the features of our modern society evolved, not least philanthropy, with the moving story of Thomas Coram's Foundling Hospital.

I love history, and find this collection well worth the £40 I paid for it. No history is ever perfect, but Schama's personal version is good television, informative and something I have no hesitation in recommending.

FACTS

The episodes:

Disc 1:
Beginnings (3100 BC–1000 AD)
Conquest! (1000–1087)
Dynasty (1087–1216)

Disc 2:
Nations (1216–1348)
King Death (1348–1500)
Burning Convictions (1500–1558)

Disc 3:
The Body of the Queen (1558–1603)
The British Wars (1603–1649)
Revolutions (1649–1689)

Disc 4:
Britannia Incorporated (1690–1750)
The Wrong Empire (1750–1800)
Forces of Nature (1780–1832)

Disc 5:
Victoria and Her Sisters (1830–1910)
The Empire of Good Intentions (1830–1925)
The Two Winstons (1910–1965)

Additional features (Disc 6):
Inaugural BBC History Magazine Lecture, 'Television and the Trouble with History'
3 interviews
Music from the series
Biography of Simon Schama

Total running time - 14 hours 30, plus 90 minutes additional material

Cheapest current price (June 2007): £39.99 from BBC Shop 

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