A history of Britain : The fate of empire 1776-2000 /
Schama Simon
- London ; Bodley Head , 2009 .
- 447 pages : illustrations (some color), color maps, portraits (some color) ; 24 cm .
BRITISH & IRISH HISTORY: C 1700 TO C 1900. Spanning two centuries, crossing the breadth of the empire and covering a vast expanse of topics - from the birth of feminism to the fate of freedom - he explores the forces that shaped British culture and character from 1776 to 2000. The story opens on the eve of a bloody revolution, but not a British one. The French Revolution never quite crossed the Channel, though its spirit of fiery defiance and Romantic idealism did, sparking off a round of radical revolts and reforms that gathered momentum over the coming century - from the Irish Rebellion to the Chartist Petition. The great question of the Victorian century was how the world's first industrial society could come through its growing pains without falling apart in social and political conflict