Roman Britain: A History From Beginning to End

by Henry Freeman

Roman Britain This book takes a holistic look at Roman Britain, from the events leading up to its official inception in AD 43 until the Romans left the Isle entirely around AD 409. The timeline is straightforward, and each chapter delves into some aspect of Romano-British dealing with the concept of 'the Celts'; when Britannia actually became 'Roman'; how the two peoples attempted to blend their culture through religion; and lastly, why the Romans had to leave. Inside you will read about... ✓ The Timeline ✓ Ancient Celtic Ethnicity, A Modern Invention ✓ The Beginnings Of Roman Britain ✓ Religion And Blending Culture In Roman Britain ✓ The Bitter End It can be difficult to explain everything from a neutral, unbiased perspective as most of the records from the time are Roman in nature, but drawing on a variety of perspectives from archaeologists and historians alike has made for a thought-provoking assessment of the era. Rome's power bestowed cities like London and York to Britannia, and their lasting influence is still visible today in places like Bath, and at Hadrian's Wall to the north. Roman Britain lingers on still.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ebooks, Ancient History, Historical, European History

42 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 5, 2016

About the author

Henry Freeman is an author and archaeologist. He has a passion for history and loves to travel the world exploring various historical sites.

Henry graduated from the University of Cambridge with a double major in History and Archaeology and shortly after that started his career as an archaeologist.

After traveling the world getting first-hand experience with history, Henry was determined to take up his dream of becoming a best-selling author.

He decided to partner up with the newly formed publishing company Hourly History writing short, concise and straightforward history books that never takes more than one hour to read.

Reviews

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Create history—History is what we think, say, and write about the evidence for the past.”

Its fifty-two-page length tells readers how much history they’re getting: little. An outline at best.

“The modern Celts are not the present representatives of a people who have existed continually for millennia, but constitute a true case of ‘ethnogenesis’—the birth of an ethnic identity—in early modern Europe.” Like several hyphen-American cultures. “Ethnicity is a cultural construct, and may have little to do with the ‘real’ historical background(s) of the individuals and sub-groups concerned.”

Several bibliographic essays about Roman-ness, Celt-ness, and Britain-ess. Little information is imparted, just lots of opinion about the lack of information and stacks of footnotes.

“This was due to the fact that ...”

Needlessly wordy and opaque. With good editing, the story would have been more accessible, but much shorter. What, for example, does the following quote mean? “Creolization [of language], as a way to model these complex processes, allows us to reevaluate these images as the active material culture through which new social identities were forged.”

“Any attempt at an explanation of Celtic religion must at best be extremely speculative—a construction rather than a reconstruction.”

Recommended only for those who know nothing about Roman influence in and on the British Isles, but think they may be.

“It would seem that Rome’s tendrils did put out roots after all.”

[J.P. Renehan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poor

Spends most of its pages pushing progressive theories rather than providing a stimulating description , chronology or narrative. Bogged down by qoutes from other authors it reads like an undergrad's essay on the subject.

[Jena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esta historia de la Bretaña Romana comprende pocos temas, pero valiosos y actuales. Digo actuales porque contiene teorías recientes de historiadores ingleses.
Antes que nada establece una línea del tiempo en donde narra sobre la primera invasión romana de Julio César en el año 55 A.C. Pasaron muchos años hasta la época de Claudio, 43 B.C., quien envió varias legiones para conquistarla definitivamente. En el segundo siglo de su estancia en la isla, los romanos construyeron las 2 murallas tan bien conocidas: la de Adriano y la de Antonino, para contener a las agresivas tribus del norte de Britania.
En un segundo tema, se pone en tela de juicio a la palabra "Celta", con que califica a los nativos de la Isla y también a los del Continente, toda vez que ellos nunca se reconocieron como tales. Dice el autor que en el siglo XVIII se puso de moda el término, cuando se descubrieron restos de entierros que el arqueólogo llamó Celtas, en un pueblo francés de nombre La Téne, y de ahí se generalizó a todo el Continente y la Isla.
El asunto de que si debe aplicarse el término "Romanización" a la aculturación de los nativos
o es mejor la palabra "Criollismo". En inglés el autor utiliza el término "Creolization", pero la RAE, no me da ningún equivalente, así que si alguien lo sabe que me lo diga.
Obvio es decir que, todas estas son teorías, y además de las más viejas están las teorías recientes. Para saber hay que leer.

[Holly Cochran · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a poorly written first year Western Civ class essay. The author cites other writers, but gives no bibliography. The author relies on long, ten-dollar word quotations, but has no focus.

Rather than "the complete history," this is an essay about why Rome didn't conquer Britain but rather the two cultures assimilated with Gail as the intermediary. The author adds the completely irrelevant example of Creole culture as a comparison, I suppose so more big words could be used.

Overall, I'd give the author a D on the essay. It is a half hour read, not a book. Certainly not worth the purchase. Quite a disappointment.

[Gian Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book, riddled with typos and mistakes, manages to discuss (very, very quickly) some interesting points around the Celtic Culture, the process of Romanization of Britain and the whole idea of cultural/ethnic identity. Unfortunately, it does so through a collection of different essays, and the overall result feels rushed and not even nearly close to the in-depth analysis the topic would require. it's a pity.

[Josh Griffing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad.

I was expecting rather a lot more here. More details, for instance: anyone reading this without some idea ALREADY of both Rome and the ancient Britons will be hopelessly lost, and those wanting to deepen their knowledge of the melded cultural context will be sadly disappointed.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

With a title like “A History from Beginning to End,” you would expect the book to give a sweeping overview, starting in the early years of the period and continuing to the end. Instead, this book gives a number of summaries along with some variation on the theme “but of course it’s more complicated than that.” That said, I learned a bit and enjoyed myself, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

[Stephen M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

brief

This entire book is almost like a legal brief arguing that Rome influenced, but never actually dominated the lands to their north. A secondary point is that those lands are too tribal to be described anachronistically as Celtic. A good brief perspective that attempts neither to minimize nor exaggerate Roman influence

[Ed Barton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent Overview

Touching on Roman influence over nearly 250 years, the book is a typical short history of the series. The book touches on the Roman invasions, religious influence, rule and architecture. I wish it was a little deeper on the Roman elements.

[M L Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating read

Although the conclusion gets rather deep into the theoretical understanding of organisation the overall narrative is very good. It provides a clear overview of the Roman incursion into Britain and how the blending of cultures may have evolved.

[Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book that focused on Roman Britain through the perspective of identity. A short interesting book, which was full of too many quotes and references which meant it read like an academic paper rather than a historical summary.

[Robert Horneman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting.

I wanted to know more about the early British lands because of the tv show “the last kingdom”. The show brought up Rome and it's influence on the land and government. So all in all it was a great read wish there was more.

[Leon Olivier, Jr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

Well done
Contains great info about the culture of early Britain, warfare, and general history. The references throughout are great. One flaw in time was distracting. Recommended.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short read at only 52 pages it was easy to squeeze into a train commute. It gives a brief summary of Britain's Roman invasion and downfall, the book focuses more on the cultural impacts and the melting pot of culture between Britannia, Gaul and the wider empire

[Tommy Maker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though is a short book, it is packed full of information and is a very interesting read. Especially when highlights it took several times for the Romans to conquer Britain. Not much more I can add here. The title of book is exactly what its about.

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written more for the academic than the curious reader.

[Allen McDonnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview

A good overview in broad strokes of the interactions between Rome and Great Britain from roughly 55 BC through 410 AD and its lasting effects.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very short history of Roman Britain that manages to present some very interesting alternative views to the usual story of brutal conquest and domination. Enough to whet the appetite for more.

[Emma Que · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating

I learned a lot of new information, and it was presented very clearly. I enjoyed the presentation and the emphasis.

[Kevin O'Hara · Rating 2 out of 5]

More a criticism of other historians' works, full of jargon, that few will recognise. Told me virtually nothing about what life was like in Roman Britain or the major events that took place.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short interesting overview of Roman Britain


Not by any means an exhaustive review of Roman Britain but does encourage one to further reading of this fascinating period of history

[Todd Howell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short but well written guide to launch you into deeper books on the topic

[Brenna Jarrett · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of good information, but a little hard to understand

[DavidO · Rating 3 out of 5]

Filler

A lot of this is filler. Why? Because these books are always the same length and not that much is known for certain about Roman Britain.

[Janette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kindle

[Nat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice succinct history

I liked the writing style to describe the history that in which it was not super dry and clinical. Nice quick hour reqd

[Josef Komensky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting .
But way too short
:-(

[Faith Cummings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roman Britain: A story much more complicated than previously thought

This is a bringing together of history and conjectures about Roman Britain, what it was, and how it came to be. Freeman shows us a new and perhaps more complicated picture of how Britain became Roman, and even where the pre-Roman Britains actually came from. He puts forward some well-documented scholarly views on who the so-called Celts really were, and who they were not. Then addds some more scholarly work on how Britain became Romanized, whether gradually or abruptly, due to conquest. This short book raises many questions and gives a few different possible answers as to how these events took place. I found it interesting reading, and not wholly different from other books on the subject that I have read. Usually, when reading historical opinions on this subject and other such subjects, like the Norman conquest in 1066, I have seen either the idea of gradual change, or the idea of abrupt and forced change. This book, though small, provides us with a look at both ideas, and how they differ. Again, I am amazed at how short a book can so comprehensively present a subject in so brief a history.

[leno sislin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally!!!

A book about Rome & Great Britain and history of same which exists in brilliant simplicity! No pomposity, no endless diatribes - Just a refreshingly brief and to the point book! I started reading with some trepidation that this lovely little book would be another Heavy History on the Roman Empire.
Far from it!It is so good I think I'll read it again!

[Yazir Paredes · Rating 4 out of 5]

THe book was a good read, but I was expecting a little more on history and events. The book metions the main events and give some details but 80% is about cultural history. Not bad, helps you comprehend the period. Wish it did more to tell the historic events