A History of Britain

Resumen del libro

'While Britain was losing an empire, it was finding itself...' The compelling opening words to "The Fate of the Empire", set the tone and agenda for the final stage of Simon Schama's epic voyage around Britain, her people and her past. 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. Would the machine age destroy or strengthen the institutions that held Britain together, from the family to the farm?And if the British Empire helped to make Britain stable and rich, did it live up to its promise to help the ruled as well as the rulers? On the way to answering these questions, "The Fate of the Empire" makes stops at both celebrations, like the Great Exhibition, and catastrophes, like the Irish potato famine and the Indian Mutiny.

Amidst the military and economic shocks and traumas of the 20th century, and through the voices of Churchill, Orwell and H. G. Wells, it asks the question that is still with us - is the immense weight of our history a blessing or a curse, a gift or a millstone around the neck of our future? It is a vast compelling epic, made more so by the lively storytelling and big bold characters at the heart of the action.

But alongside flamboyant heroes, like Nelson and Churchill, Schama recalls unsung heroines and virtually unknown enemies. Alongside the grand ideas, he exposes the grand illusions that cost untold lives. Schama looks head on at the facts and asks, 'What went wrong with the liberal dream?'The answers emerge in "The Fate of the Empire", which reveals the living ideals of Britain's long history, 'a history that tied together social justice with bloody-minded liberty'.

Biografía del autor

x{0026}lt;P x{0026}lt;B Sir Simon Schamax{0026}lt;/B , miembro de la Excelentísima Orden del Imperio Británico, es profesor de Historia del arte en la Universidad de Columbia, integrante de la Academia Británica, miembro de la Real Sociedad de Literatura y colabora como editor en el x{0026}lt;I Financial Timesx{0026}lt;/I .x{0026}lt;/P x{0026}lt;P Es autor de dieciocho libros que han sido traducidos a dieciséis idiomas además de guionista y presentador de cincuenta documentales sobre arte, historia y literatura para la BBC2 y la PBS. Fue crítico de arte para x{0026}lt;I The New Yorkerx{0026}lt;/I en la década de los noventa y ganó en 1996 el National Magazine Award por su crítica x{0026}lt;I Confesiones y Encargos: Ensayos de Artex{0026}lt;/I .x{0026}lt;/P x{0026}lt;P Su película sobre Bernini ganó un Emmy y su serie x{0026}lt;I A History of Britainx{0026}lt;/I ganó el Broadcast Critics Guild Award. Su obra sobre Historia del arte incluye x{0026}lt;I Los ojos de Rembrandtx{0026}lt;/I (1999), x{0026}lt;I El Poder del Artex{0026}lt;/I (2006) y x{0026}lt;I The Face of Britainx{0026}lt;/I (2015).x{0026}lt;/P x{0026}lt;P Ha sido galardonado con numerosos premios internacionales, entre los cuales cabe destacar el premio NCR de no ficción por x{0026}lt;I Ciudadanos. Una crónica de la revolución francesax{0026}lt;/I , el WH Smith Literary Award por x{0026}lt;I Landscape and Memoryx{0026}lt;/I y el National Book Critics Circle Award por x{0026}lt;I RoughCrossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolutionx{0026}lt;/I . Su último libro, x{0026}lt;I Historia de los Judíos Vol. II - Pertenencia, 1492-1900x{0026}lt;/I fue preseleccionado para el Baillie-Gifford Prize y estuvo entre los mejores libros del 2017 según x{0026}lt;I The Economistx{0026}lt;/I .x{0026}lt;/P x{0026}lt;P Durante el último año y medio ha trabajado en la BBC/PBS para la serie sobre Historia mundial del arte, x{0026}lt;I Civilizationsx{0026}lt;/I .x{0026}lt;/P