Name: Shortest History of England: Empire and Division from the Anglo-Saxons to Brexit - A Retelling for Our Times
ISBN: 9781615198146

New!Websites for Authors

The co-op bookstore for avid readers

Shortest History of England: Empire and Division from the Anglo-Saxons to Brexit - A Retelling for Our Times

James Hawes

Paperback

Regular price$16.95With free membership trial$8.4850% off your first book+ Free shipping

In Stock– Ships within one business day

Do you recommend this book?

Yes!

England--begetter of parliaments and globe-spanning empires, star of beloved period dramas, and home of the House of Windsor--is not quite the stalwart island fortress that many of us imagine. Riven by an ancient fault line that predates even the Romans, its fate has ever been bound up with that of its neighbors; and for the past millennia, it has harbored a class system like nowhere else on Earth.

This bracing tour of the most powerful country in the United Kingdom reveals an England repeatedly invaded and constantly reinvented--yet always fractured by its very own Mason-Dixon Line. It carries us swiftly through centuries of conflict between Crown and Parliament (starring the Magna Carta), America's War of Independence, the rise and fall of empire, two World Wars, and England's break from the EU. We discover:

why the American colonists of 1776 believed that they were the true Anglo-Saxons
how the British Empire was undermined from within
why Winston Churchill said the UK could only be saved by splitting up England itself
and how populism spawned Brexit and its "new elite."

The Shortest History of England brings all this and more to prescient life--offering the most direct, compelling route to understanding the country behind today's headlines.

Book Details

Publisher: Experiment
Publish Date: Mar 1st, 2022
Pages: 304
Language: English
Edition: undefined - undefined
Dimensions: 7.70in - 5.10in - 0.90in - 0.60lb
EAN: 9781615198146
Categories: • Europe - Great Britain - General• World - European

More books to explore

Book Cover for: Hunting the Falcon: Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and the Marriage That Shook Europe, John Guy

Book Cover for: London Fog: The Biography, Christine L. Corton

Book Cover for: The Taste of Empire: How Britain's Quest for Food Shaped the Modern World, Lizzie Collingham

Book Cover for: Wallis in Love: The Untold Life of the Duchess of Windsor, the Woman Who Changed the Monarchy, Andrew Morton

Book Cover for: Churchill: Walking with Destiny, Andrew Roberts

Book Cover for: The Pursuit of Power: Europe 1815-1914, Richard J. Evans

Book Cover for: Britain at Bay: The Epic Story of the Second World War, 1938-1941, Alan Allport

Book Cover for: Geniuses at War: Bletchley Park, Colossus, and the Dawn of the Digital Age, David A. Price

Book Cover for: Geography Is Destiny: Britain and the World: A 10,000-Year History, Ian Morris

Book Cover for: The British in India: A Social History of the Raj, David Gilmour

Book Cover for: Empire, Incorporated: The Corporations That Built British Colonialism, Philip J. Stern

Book Cover for: Fortune's Bazaar: The Making of Hong Kong, Vaudine England

Book Cover for: The Puritans: A Transatlantic History, David D. Hall

Book Cover for: Empire of Guns: The Violent Making of the Industrial Revolution, Priya Satia

Book Cover for: The Lost History of Liberalism: From Ancient Rome to the Twenty-First Century, Helena Rosenblatt

About the Author

Hawes, James: - James Hawes studied German at University of Oxford and University College London, then held lectureships in German at the universities of Maynooth, Sheffield, and Swansea. He has published six novels with Jonathan Cape and is also the author of The Shortest History of Germany and The Shortest History of England. He leads the MA in creative writing at Oxford Brookes University. He is Series Story Consultant, on-screen contributor, and writer of the associated book for the major eight-episode BBC TV history of British creativity, These Brilliant Isles: Art That Made Us, to be screened in spring 2022.

More books by James Hawes

Book Cover for: The Shortest History of Germany: From Roman Frontier to the Heart of Europe - A Retelling for Our Times, James Hawes

Book Cover for: The Critical English Testament, Being an Adaptation of Bengel's Gnomon, With Numerous Notes, Sowing the Precise Results of Modern Criticism and Exeges, William Lewery Blackley

Book Cover for: Breakfast with a Heron, James Hawes

Book Cover for: Nietzsche and the End of Freedom: The neo-Romantic dilemma in Kafka, the brothers Mann, Rilke and Musil, 1904-1914, James Hawes

Book Cover for: The Critical English Testament, Johann Albrecht Bengel

Book Cover for: The Critical English Testament: Vol. II- The Acts and the Epistles (to Second Thessalonians), William Lewery Blackley

What people are saying

Tantor Audio

@TantorAudio

2 years

Listening all summer long! #SummerListens https://t.co/vSwVJb21ni. Tantor titles can be found through all major digital partners.

The Shortest History of England brings all this and more to prescient life—offering the most direct, compelling route to understanding the country behind today's headlines. Written by@@jameshawes2 Read by @Englishguyinla https://t.co/osbBuFnWdJ #audiobook #historyfans https://t.co/4Z58McgH7F

Independent publisher of a wide range of nonfiction and popular science. Distributed by @HachetteUS. View our Fall '23 catalog here: https://t.co/29SFoeYjTp

🚨 EBOOK SALE, TODAY ONLY In honor of King Charles's #coronation today, The Shortest History of England by @jameshawes2 is only $1.99! Grab your copy here: https://t.co/g2NE0ObZUS 👑 #England #UK #EnglishHistory #CharlesIII #History #Nonfiction #Books #BookSale https://t.co/mt9aEE8bus

twitter.com

Old Street Publishing

@oldstpublishing

4 years

Independent publisher since 2006.

Confused? Don't be. Read The Shortest History of England, by James Hawes. Out today in paperback. https://t.co/NPjuePl5T4

twitter.com

Praise for this book

Acclaim from the UK

"James Hawes's view of English history is sharp and vivid and extremely persuasive.--Philip Pullman, author of the His Dark Materials trilogy

No one writes history as well as James Hawes or uses the past to make sense of the present so skillfully. This is an urgent and electrifying work that takes you to the heart of England's sickness. Do yourself a favor and read it.--Nick Cohen, journalist for The Observer

A thorough and absorbing investigation of the English story . . . Perhaps [Hawes's] greatest skill is in how he brings the story right up to date, able to step back from the current madness with admirable clarity to separate wood and trees in a way most of us would find impossible.-- "The New European"

Brilliant insights on every page, and the multiple entry points and clever use of graphics bestows an easy-to-read, magazine-y feel. Favorite thing I learnt: the Anglo-Saxon warrior elite departed en masse about 1076 to fight for the Byzantine Empire, and founded a New England in the Crimea. And yes, I read it in a day.-- "Book Brunch"

Praise for The Shortest History of Germany

A #1 International Bestseller
A Der Spiegel "Most Provoking Book of the Year"

"A rapid-paced, thought-provoking, easy-to-digest account of German history.-- "Library Journal"

A fast-moving encapsulation of German history focusing on the thesis that Prussia's aggression was a short-lived anomaly in the big picture and not reflective of the true German spirit . . . A marvelously concise effort, especially compelling as Angela Merkel is set to step down in 2021, leaving an uncertain vacuum in Europe.-- "Kirkus Reviews"

In this 'shortest history, ' Hawes conquers the dense task of recounting the story of the land and people of what is now Germany over the last two millennia . . . [He] does a good job guiding readers . . . pointing out parallels to today and arguing that Germany's history, long-ago and recent, makes it a key, if not the key, player in world leadership.-- "Booklist"

James Hawes condenses two millennia into a zippy 256 pages. Breezy yet knowledgeable, the book provides a thorough grounding in the major historical events and religious and regional differences that shaped the country at the very heart of Europe.-- "Foreword Reviews"

With this pocket-size history, Hawes delivers a wide-ranging yet precise chronicle of political leaders who have served and shaped what is now Germany. . . . This clearly presented history will be of particular interest to readers following the political machinations of the European Union.-- "Publishers Weekly"

Underwrite an overview of a complicated topic with one of these new short-and-sweet distillations . . . with maps, charts, sidebars, and illustrations to bring it alive.-- "Mosaic, Morgan Stanley"

What people are saying

Tantor Audio

@TantorAudio

2 years

Listening all summer long! #SummerListens https://t.co/vSwVJb21ni. Tantor titles can be found through all major digital partners.

Independent publisher of a wide range of nonfiction and popular science. Distributed by @HachetteUS. View our Fall '23 catalog here: https://t.co/29SFoeYjTp

twitter.com

Get 30% off your first purchase

Atlantic readers get a 30% discount code when signing up for our popular newsletter (unsubscribe anytime).