Simon Schama: A History of Britain (Special Edition)

This was eye-poppingly FABULOUS! I'm in the middle of trying to learn as much as I can about British history by immersing myself in various educational mediums. I had just finished a course on medieval English kings when I switched over to this. First of all, the filmography is stunning! I have never been to Great Britain and I knew that it had some pretty countryside, but as an American, I always thought the really beautiful scenery was on the North American continent. What did I know? The natural landscapes in England, Scotland and Ireland will take your breath away. Once you pick up your jaw after looking at the landscape, there is the history itself. Simon visits about a thousand(?) important places in British history while talking about them. Even though this is an educational history series, there were times I just was just about ready to cry -- for example, when he speaks of the personalities and reigns of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine while sitting beside their funeral effigies. The way this series is done makes things seem so incredibly IMMEDIATE. You feel as if you are literally THERE --either with him in that place or actually in that time. Then there is the music. The musical background of this is rich and luscious. It could not possibly be a comprehensive history without taking up 20 DVDs instead of 6, but as a panoramic overview of British history, helping you to immerse yourself in the sights, sounds, feelings, politics and culture of the Brits through a few thousand years, it could not be better.I think he does a good job of describing the conflicts of the Industrial Age without slanting towards either capitalist or socialist favoritism. It must have been hard to do that, but the result is something much more balanced that you would expect coming out of the BBC and the fact that it is NOT biased helps to highlight the problems presented by both approaches. I am inspired to read Adam Smith and more George Orwell because of this part of the series.

Do not watch ANY British Historic telling of her history in any video format - unless it is for entertainment - WITHOUT watching both Simon Schama and David Starkey - covering the same era also (preferably one after the other) before the next "historic" event and WHY and/or HOW it occurred - from raw ambition and talent, to soap operas and idiotics! Watch every period or event with these two great story tellers' and their take. Throw in Shakespeare, think, and you get the majesty of how today's world was created, evolved, exists, for the better or the worse, and how it will change - based on one's own circumstances, opinions, hopes, aspirations, and fears, of course!"How many ages henceShall this our lofty scene be acted overIn states unborn and accents yet unknown! ...So oft as that shall be,So often shall the knot of us be called“The men that gave their country liberty.”Cassius after the murder of Julius Caesar - Act 3, Sc. 1

years ago i remember waking up at 6am on Sunday mornings to watch this on The History Channel and was thrilled to find the set for sale. i held back one star..........1/2 for Simon Schama 1/2 for the quality of the discs [well, A disc] and would have voted 3 stars if not for Amazon:.......... (#1) problem with the series...........The Wars of the Roses --- MENTIONED----...... BARELY....... NO segment had ANYTHING on Bosworth Field, Henry Tudor, Elizabeth of York, Prince Arthur or Princess Catherine, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella..............a big WHAT THE [????] that era was monumental in establishing the country's relevance to the European community and shaping the future of Britain. i cannot imagine the thought processes that led to it's omission........ (#2) problem with the product: i was dismayed that disc one, episodes 2 & 3 skipped, froze, and would refuse to play on any of my dvd players...........4 machines in total. AMAZON WAS GREAT and a full hassle-free exchange was affected in less than a week.....BUT.........same problem with disc one, episodes 2 & 3..............HOWEVER..........my blu-ray player WILL play the one from the replacement set. so rather than pete & re-pete another exchange suspecting it was a manufacturing defect on who knows how many sets, i decided to just live with the annoyance of having to watch disc one in our family room only.

You'll see two versions of the program on Amazon, so which one should you buy? You probably think that this is a no-brainer. The American DVD-format BBS version is a lot cheaper than the History Channel (A&E) one, features wide screen rather than full screen images, and has an extra disk of special features. On the other hand, you get what you pay for. The BBC packaging is awful. The disks are stored in overlapping pairs in their container in such a way that to get to the one on the bottom, you first have to remove the one on the top. And while you expect full screen images to cut off the left and right edges of wide screen ones, in this case the wide screen images of the BBC collection actually cut off the top of the full screen images in the History Channel collection. The BBC version is a bargain at the price, but a bit less of a bargain than you might expect.

Eigentlich sind das Essays zur englischen Geschichte, die außerordentlich originell und gelungen sind - auch nach über zwanzig Jahren. Gleichzeitig bietet die Serie als ganze einen hervorragenden Abriss der englischen Geschichte. Die Folgen über Elisabeth I., das Empire im 19. Jahrhundert und über Churchill und Orwell halte ich immer noch für das Beste, was ich je an historischen Dokumentationen gesehen habe.

Impresionante serie para todos los interesados en la historia de Gran Bretaña. Simon Schama te deja pegada a la pantalla por lo que cuenta y por cómo lo cuenta.

Histoire de la Grande Bretagne rendue intelligible pour les non-initiés. Plus qu'un documentaire et heureusement pas un "docu-fiction"! Très bien filmé et le narrateur possède son sujet à fond: il le vit.

I love these DVDs. It’s a magical adventure to the story of this wonderful country.

Firstly, I haven't finished watching yet (I've just watched Britannia Incorporated). Secondly, I'm a fan of Prof Schama. Right, now I've stated my credentials, the argument. EH Carr posed the question What is History? History is not names and dates: they are the raw 'stuff' that makes history, but they need a good chef to turn them into an edible object. And that what a good historian does. And, importantly, there is no such thing as definitive history: there are different interpretations that will depend upon the views and beliefs of the historian and the names and dates they choose to use. For instance, read accounts by Eric Hobsbawm and Norman Stone of the same subject, and you'll get to different cakes: Hobsbawm is a left wing, Marxist historian, Stone his complete opposite. Both accounts will be justified. History is a feast of many different courses and menus. Now, Simon Schama. Firstly I like his presentational style: its very unstuffy, none technical and he has the grasp of good presenters of sounding and looking like he's talking to you personally. Secondly, his historical breadth is wide: cultural, political, social, economic et al. And what I really like about this history series is that each programme is a self contained television essay. He begins by telling you what his argument is going to be, followed by the argument presented with some gorgeous scenes and music, and then his conclusion that brigs you back to the beginning. So, Dynasty begins with Henry II, and the creation of common law and the British legal system and ends with its logical endpoint: Magna Carta when the Monarch him or herself is made to follow the law. Burning Convictions begins with the question 'What happened to Catholic England?' and a description of an ornately and beautifully decorated church of saints and pomp and ends with a small, claustrophobic priesthole: that's what happened to Catholic England. And who won the Battle of The Boyne? Answer No one, and as the credits role you here the voices of Rev Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams, and three hundred years of history is bought shockingly up to date. Of course Schama has left stuff out. He's telling nearly 5000 years of history in 15 hours and this is his cake of British history. But it's amazing just how much he does include given those strictures. And, of course some people will disagree. But if you disagree hopefully, you'll know why you disagree: it will have made you think. And that is the strongest argument for the quality of this series: it's thought provoking. I know I will watch this again and again.