A New History of Britain since 1688: Four Nations and an Empire

by Susan Kingsley Kent

For decades, scholars have been urging a "four nations" approach to British history. Susan Kingsley Kent's ambitious and timely A New History of Britain since 1688: Four Nations and an Empire finally delivers on that promise. Ranging from 1688 to the present, the book covers developments in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, along with the British empire, providing a lively and often gripping account of the ever-changing conflicts that have characterized British history. In prose that is accessible and engaging, Kent not only includes the histories of the four "nations" of the British Isles and the vast overseas empire within a single frame, she also seamlessly interweaves the thematic concerns of her previous scholarship--gender history, environmental history, and imperial and colonial history--into the history of British politics, society, and imperial culture. The result is a brilliant synthesis.

Genres: History, European History, Nonfiction

528 pages, Paperback

Published February 15, 2016

Reviews

[Maggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Turns out I don't like Britain 🤷🏼‍♀️

[Kaitie Mannis · Rating 5 out of 5]

really enjoyed this! easy to follow and well organized!

[Toast · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't looked at any of the reviews for this book but I'm assuming at least some of the other people who read this book did so because it was required for class.

Of course I may be totally wrong and the world is just filled with lots of nerds who like to read History books. I don't know about you people.

I took a History of Modern Britain class this past semester at school as part of my CORE class requirement, and this was our only textbook required.

I'm not a history major, so I had some trouble following along and trying to focus on the motions of working through history, but it was an all-right read, and it wasn't sold by Pearson, so that automatically makes it a less-evil textbook than others out there.

According to my history professor, there were several errors in the book and it was kind of a running gag throughout the semester that he would add to his own "book" to send to the editor or whomever about the errors when we were finished reading it.

One thing I did enjoy about the book was the focus Kent has on women's issues throughout the centuries, which I found to be enlightening and interesting since we never covered it in public school to the extent that she does in this book. Getting an idea of the shifting culture throughout the ages was also an interest of mine, so there were times I did find myself enjoying the book.

The politics is all lost on me and I have a very difficult time following along, even with the supplemental help from class.

So maybe recommend this for people who do have at least an introductory familiarity to British history? They'll probably get more out of it and be able to follow it along better. I had practically zero background knowledge going into this class. Shows how much I know since it was a 300 level course and it's the first history class I've ever taken, pffftt.

(But since I didn't read this book for recreation, it still counts to my reading challenge, right? hahaha)