History of Britain (Vol 2): The British Wars 1603-1776

by Simon Schama CBE (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2003

  $3.28

  Change, sometimes gentle and subtle, more often shocking and violent - shattering ideals and shifting perspectives - is again the dynamic of this, the second volume of Schama's history of Britain. The British wars began on the morning of July 23 1637, and the first missiles launched were stools. They flew down the nave of St. Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh and their targets were the Dean and Bishop of Edinburgh... The first round of the British wars had been fired, and fired on grounds of faith. Over the next 200 years, other battles on other battlegrounds would be waged and would rage - both at home and abroad, on sea and on land, up and down the length of burgeoning Britain, and across three continents - Europe,America and India. Most of the British wars would be wars of faith - waged on wide-ranging grounds of political or religious conviction - between Republicans and Royalists, Catholics and Protestants, Tories and Whigs, colonialists and natives. Many of the British battles would be fought on battlefields far from Britain, as far afield as Quebec and Calcutta. Yet the wars of the British remain essentially British wars - fought by the British, for the British and between the British. But who exactly were the British and what were they fighting for ? The answers unravel as the the story of The Wars of the British unfolds. It is a story of revolution and reaction, of inspiration and disillusion, of progress and catastrophe, of huge gains and massive losses, of battles fought against the odds, as when Robert Clive stood at Plassey, or James Wolfe fell at Quebec.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2001

  $3.28

  To understand what Britain has become it is necessary to know what it has been. The second volume in this history takes the story of Britain from the Civil War to the Enlightenment. Each chapter focuses on a major theme.

• New

  Paperback
  2009

  $27.40

  Simon Schama explores the forces that tore Britain apart during two centuries of dynamic change - transforming outlooks, allegiances and boundaries. From the beginning of July 1637, battles raged on for 200 years - both at home and abroad, on sea and on land, up and down the length of burgeoning Britain, across Europe, America and India. Most would be wars of faith - waged on wide-ranging grounds of political or religious conviction. But as wars of religious passions gave way to campaigns for profit, the British people did come together in the imperial enterprise of 'Britannia Incorporated'. The British Wars is a story of revolution and reaction, inspiration and disenchantment, of progress and catastrophe, and Schama's evocative narrative brings it vividly to life.