(Glory & Bollocks: The Truth Behind Ten Defining Events in British History – And the Half-truths, Lies, Mistakes and What We Really Just Don't Know About Brexit) [By: Brown, Colin] [Dec, 2013]

by Colin Brown

Was the technologically sophisticated longbow responsible for the landmark victory at Agincourt, or was it simply that the English are better in mud? When did Queen Elizabeth I learn that the Armada had capitulated – before or after she delivered one of history’s most inspiring and self-serving speeches? Why did Wellington meet his Waterloo on his return to London? Acclaimed author and political reporter Colin Brown travels to the places where history was made to uncover the real story.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval, Politics

Paperback

First published November 7, 2013

Reviews

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bettie's Books

[Tim Pendry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Colin Brown is a former senior political journalist and his book has all the hallmarks, good and bad, of a current genre - the retired news man wanting to top up his pension and sweat his intellectual assets.

The good parts first. Brown writes well and clearly. He has made a real effort to get behind the wheel of history, visiting the sites of central historical events and understands the importance of place.

His account of battles are very good (Azincourt and the holding of Hougoumont at Waterloo in particular). He is equally good on the myth-making around events such as Magna Carta and the Armada.

His choices are (with one exception) important markers for what it is to be English (rather than his claimed Britishness) and he is good at showing just how contingently events have turned out.

Very few of the events in this book were 'inevitable' (other than perhaps the creation of the NHS) though probability was with some (1688, women's suffrage and 1940) and chance with others.

The weather of North Western Europe plays an inordinate role on the touch-and-go nature of national survival but it is also true that the English/British commitment to military innovation is always high.

He is (again with one exception) no sentimentalist either, able to point out that many major events were largely 'fixes' by special interests in struggles high above the world of us peasants.

He is a fairly typical example of the modern progressive-Tory-Whig, a creature squaring a lot of internal contradictions to come up with the right answer - a modern variant of the 'God is an Englishman' thesis.

But, like most British journalists, he is averse to analysis. The story is told, the falsities exposed but no conclusions drawn that are not rather simplistic and often comforting despite what we have read.

And the book takes a sharp turn for the worse at the end, after excellent and enlightening accounts of the two pivotal events that shaped the modern English mind - 1940 and the NHS in 1948.

It is as if that mind is his mind and he becomes the nation for the last event because he was there and can report on it as a newsman with 'inside information' - the Falklands and sinking of the Belgrano.

But, bluntly, the Falklands has been manufactured here as a defining event when it was merely a gamble that paid off for a Government that had already set the tone for the next thirty years.

More defining events might have been 1956 (Suez) or the defeat of the coal miners or the lifting of exchange controls (my personal choice) or are yet to come (the Scottish and European Referendums).

Similarly, he prefers the Falklands to the dissolution of the monasteries, the union of 1707, the Somme and so many other 'bigger' events ... this just does not work.

And the final chapter seems to be little more than a complacent establishment manifesto for monarchism and for our increasingly shoddy parliament ... the junior ranks of the establishment speak!

All in all, a well written and informative book that makes a good read for a journey and will change your views perhaps on aspects of our 'island story' but the jewels are set in a lazy and tinny setting.

At one level, this is excellent infotainment and I applaud Brown's active engagement with place and evidence but, at another, it represents, once again, that our elite still does not 'get' it.

[Snoakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an entertaining yomp through some of the key points of Britain's history.  They may not be the defining moments I'd have chosen, but several prove the point that history is written by the victor.  Each chapter is a broad overview of one these major events and attempts to separate the facts from the myths and received truths surrounding it.  Well-written and engaging, it's perfect for the armchair historian who doesn't want to get too bogged down in detail. 

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colin Brown's excellent revision of histories of England, where the story you remember is a combination of confusion, spin, and simple untruth, takes you back (as far as possible) to the moment, and then looks how the mythology of that moment has spiralled out over history.

Though I cannot think of a single person who has ever suggested that the Falklands War was "Our Finest Hour".

Almost every story is different from the one we remember: particularly interesting (for me) were the Magna Carta (a tawdry compromise between two rival groups of thugs, not a statement of the rule of rule of law and the power of habeas corpus), the Battle of Azincourt ( a war atrocity even by medieval standards), and the defeat of the Armada (the more I read about Elizabeth I, the more she reminds me of Donald Trump: an utter bullshitter who convinces people "I'm on your side" while knifing them in the back), but they are all fascinating.

The fly in this ointment is the fact that it was written ten years ago, and David Cameron is presented as a decent human being and the coalition government/austerity as a "success". The recent past has dated way worse than the distant past.

[Savina King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting read if you are a history fan. I certainly learnt a few new things from this book. Strongly recommend this read!.

[Thomas Shuttleworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

An INteresting read about the miportant years in British histroy

[Gabriel Tamaș · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a nice read, especially for a foreigner such as I am. It helps one to better understand Britain's proudest moments in history, as well as the inner workings behind them.
The downside is that the author seems to sometimes try desperatly to meet the 30 pages quota for each segment, which makes for a slow and sometimes tedious read, filled with unwanted or redundant infos and detours.
Overall a nice read from an obviously very well researched author!
Rule Britannia!

[Charles Eliot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ten key moments in British history - Magna Carta (1215), the Battle of Azincourt (1415), the defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588), the Glorious Revolution (1688), the Battle of Waterloo (1815), the abolition of the slave trade (1833), universal suffrage for all women (1928), "Their Finest Hour" (1940), the creation of the NHS (1948), and the Falklands War (1982). Each is fascinating in itself, and like all major historical events, especially where wars are involved, the facts are more complex, and the lessons more nuanced and ambiguous, than the myths we learned at school. Taken together, these ten moments give a fascinating view of the nature of being British.

Colin Brown was political editor for the Sunday Telegraph and the Independent on Sunday, so he's able to shine his light brightest on more recent history.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written, balanced study on 10 of what the British public claimed were the proudest moments in the nation's history. Azincourt, 1940 and The Falklands War are covered without jingoism, and social triumphs such as women's sufferage, the end of the slave trade and the founding of the NHS are all held up as lasting achievements when compared to fleeting military successes.

However, this is pop history. Don't expect anything groundbreaking or controversial. It's also very orthodox - so don't expect any non-traditional narratives.

But it is what it is. A good read for the casual armchair historian, and well worth a look for anyone looking for an introduction to some of the broader strokes of British history.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good starting point to begin your investigations into 10 major points of British history.

In some places superficial, in others remarkably deep, but in all cases well researched. Full of personal views, but that just allows the reader to then find out for himself or herself what really happened.

A must for anyone who wants to look past the shallow high school curriculum of British history.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was better than I thought it would be. Not too patriotically British, but does attempt to read between the lines of seminal events of British history. The fact that 6 out of 10 events were based around warfare made me wonder whether the perspective would be a bit skewed. A good book for dipping in and out of.

[Lewis Hussain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating stuff. The 10 defining moments of British History broken down and told with majestic realism and spot on research. With each chapter you feel both proud and embarrassed about Britain and it's role it's played in the world. A fantastic read!!

[Ivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very entertaining, some passages (about the suffragetes, the blitz, Magna Carta) are better than others (why there is no insight on parlamentary debate on slavery?) but quite good.

http://lobloc.net/2015/02/04/glory-an... ‎

[Fraser Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Occasionally interesting.