A History of Britain

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A History of Britain is a BBC documentary series directed by Simon Schama . Aired from October 2000 to June 2002, it contains 15 parts, spread over 3 seasons. The author Simon Schama received a lot of praise for his sympathetic and often pointed, but never arrogant style of moderation. The series has also been published in book form in three volumes. The full series on DVD has now become the BBC's best-selling DVD documentary series.

The individual episodes

Summary of the BBC DVD short description

  1. Beginnings - The series begins in the Neo-Stone Age village of Skara Brae in the Orkney Islands. Over the next 4,000 years, Romans, Saxons, Vikings and Christian missionaries will come to fight, settle and leave their mark on where the British nations will one day be formed.
  2. Conquest! - 1066 is not one of the most famous years in English history for nothing. In the nine hours that the Battle of Hastings raged, the course of history changed. Anglo-Saxon England became Norman, and for the next three hundred years its fate was determined by dynasties of French rulers.
  3. Dynasty - There is no more powerful saga than that of the warring dynasty. - A bossy father, a beautiful, scheming mother and argumentative, murderous sons. In the years following the Norman Conquest, this drama was staged on the stage of English history.
  4. Nations - Nations is an epic account of how the British nation rose up against the English King Edward I, "Longshanks". Their newfound sense of who and what they are still has an impact today.
  5. King Death - The plague only took six years to devastate the British Isles. Its effects were felt over generations. But from the ashes of that trauma emerged an unexpected and unique layer of English.
  6. Burning Convictions - Here Simon Schama reports on the upheavals of a country famous for its piety and whose king elevated himself to the “Defender of the Faith” that turned into one of the most aggressive supporters of Protestantism.
  7. The Body of the Queen - This is the story of two queens - the virgin Queen and gifted politician Elizabeth I and the Catholic mother Mary, Queen of Scots. It is also the story of the creation of a nation.
  8. The British Wars - The turbulent civil wars of the early seventeenth century lead to two unique events in British history: the public execution of a king and the creation of a republic. Simon Schama tells of the brutal war that tore the country in two and created a new Britain - separated by politics and religion and ruled by the first truly modern army. An army that fights for an ideology and not for a single leader.
  9. Revolutions - Political and religious revolutions torment Britain after the execution of King Charles I. Britain was a joyless republic under Oliver Cromwell. His reign became so unpopular that it was a relief to many when the monarchy returned after his death. But Cromwell was also a man of vision who initiated major reforms.
  10. Britannia Incorporated - A new century is dawning and relations between Scotland and England have never been worse. Nevertheless, half a century later, both countries are looking forward to a common future - based on profit and interest. The new Britain was based on money, not God.
  11. The Wrong Empire - The Wrong Empire is the gripping and terrifying story of how a small group of islands came to rule the world. A story of exploration and boldness, but also of exploitation and conflict.
  12. Forces of Nature - Britain never had a revolution like the one in France in 1789 - but it was close. In the mid-1770s, a surge of political energy swept the country. Rediscovering England's savagery, the intellectuals of the "romantic generation" also discovered the duty of the citizen to transform nature into a revolutionary power.
  13. Victoria and Her Sisters - As the Victorian Age began, the great benefits of technology and industrialization transformed both the landscape and the social fabric of an entire country. More than ever before, women also shaped society.
  14. The Empire of Good Intentions - The Kingdom of Good Intentions lists the complicated life of a liberal empire from Ireland to India. - The promise of civilization and material prosperity and the creation of coercion and hunger.
  15. The Two Winstons - In the final installment, Shama explores the overwhelming present of the English past in the twentieth century and the rulers' struggle for a better future. As outstanding figures of the twentieth century, Churchill and Orwell, with their different ways of writing and shaping history, serve as examples of the imperial past.

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