The Story of Britain: A History of the Great Ages: From the Romans to the Present

by Roy Strong

The Story of Britain is an accessible one-volume history that clearly depict Britain's origins—and explain how the past shaped the nation's current identity. He begins the story of Britain from the very earliest recorded Celtic times, and with this new edition has now brought it up to date via the Blair years and into the present day of Brexit Britain. 


A magnificently eloquent volume, the narrative chronicles two thousand years of Britain's history, the triumph of its people, the glory of its culture, and its dramatic influence on other nations of the world, especially the United States. It is a remarkable achievement and, with his passion, enthusiasm and wide-ranging knowledge, Strong is the ideal narrator. The book is ideally suited for everyone who cares about Britain's past.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, British Literature, European History, Historical, Reference

608 pages, Paperback

First published February 5, 2019

About the author

Sir Roy Colin Strong FRSL is an English art historian, museum curator, writer, broadcaster and landscape designer. He has been director of both the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He was knighted in 1983.

Reviews

[Rosie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only made it about halfway through this monolith up until King Whoever started lopping off the heads of his wives. A few months back, after the Queen died, I realized I knew nothing about British history and thought this would be a decent introduction. However, it misses a lot in its scope and focus on the monarchy and war, especially in terms of the lives of regular people (i.e. the poor, women, and children). It is an older kind of approach to history that hides behind a mask of "just the facts" but retells the history of the victors with little attention paid to structures of power, social context, or critical analysis. For example, the author describes Scotland and Ireland as "poor, backward and neglected countries" (214), without providing much in the way of detail or context as to why they were poor, who considered them "backward" (kind of a loaded term), and what life was actually like for Scots and Irish of that time. Without this detail, for me the point is kind of lost. I probably should've just read The Making of the English Working Class by EP Thompson.

[Josh Kemp · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would’ve been a 4-star, had the quality of the first half been maintained. I really enjoyed the mini-biographies of influential figures (Elizabeth I and William Wilberforce were some favorites), and the book progressed in a logical manner. That said, with the average chapter being 6-8 pages in a volume that sprints past the 500 pg mark, there are certainly figures and eras which I would’ve liked to receive longer treatment. It’s an ambitious project, and Strong mostly succeeds! I appreciated his disclosure of his political and religious leanings in the beginning (“small c-conservative and progressive Anglo-Catholic”), because these really became evident in his treatment of the 19th c. onwards. In all, this felt a lot like Mary Beard’s SPQR - a sweeping work that hits most of the right beats while leaving something to be desired.

[Johann Liivak · Rating 4 out of 5]

UK-l võiks veic parem ajalugu olla

[all_day_dream_about_books · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to know about the history of the British and this one provided an overview that would suffice. I will definitely go on to read more details elsewhere but this has provided me a background on what to look for

[Kent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crown, Parliament, and Church. A little over 500 pages covering 2336 years of history (32o B.C. - A.D. 2016), The Story of Britain necessarily skips some points along the way. Not epic. Some parts less interesting to me. Other parts pretty engrossing. At points the author takes time for some fine biography (like Shakespeare, Newton, Darwin, Lancelot Brown, some of the monarchs). In comparison to the previous monarchs, little is said of Queen Elizabeth II and the other 3 monarchs of the House of Windsor. I presume that is due to contemporary political irrelevance of the monarchy. In my very limited reading of British history, I especially enjoyed The Plantagenets (Dan Jones), but that only covers 279 years.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like reading single-volume histories before travel. I've had good luck recently with Lonnie Johnson's Central Europe and David Gilmour's The Pursuit of Italy, but found The Story of Britain to be much less engaging. Some of it was structural – there are 73 chapters, each of which is like a little textbook sketch of a historical period, not really allowing for longer-term points or arguments to be made. The chapters themselves don't always feel especially well-organized internally, either. And the history is basically a history of power: the Crown, the Church, and after the Stuarts, Parliament. Events outside London, and life outside the upper classes, isn't covered in significant detail. There are a few chapters that present miniature biographies of notable figures (Chaucer, Newton, Darwin, etc.), and they're among the most interesting and revealing parts of the book.

The biggest issue, I think, is that the writing itself is just a bit dull. There's a lot of stuff in British history that should be exciting – the Peasants' Revolt, the reign of Henry VIII, the Commonwealth under Cromwell, and so on – but Strong doesn't quite bring the events or their personalities to vivid life. What we get instead is a reasonably competent history, but not one that makes the reader feel invested in its subject matter.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sir Roy Strong's book is exactly what I was hoping for. It's an easy to read, well written history of the entirety of British history, from the pre-Roman Celts to Brexit. Needless to say, it moves along at a rapid clip to cover all those centuries. I'm docking one star because even the need for that kind of pace doesn't justify the omission of the Beatles as a societal force in the 1960s, I'm just sayin'...

[Randy Nielsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d have given it 4 stars, if not for the lazy scholarship around Richard III. “... every one of his victims walked like lambs to the slaughter” but with a CYA caveat at the end “The finger has even been pointed at his successor, Henry VII”. Things like that make everything else suspect.

[Jeanette Michalets · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phew! I finally finished this nearly 600-page book.
The author, Roy Strong, gives the reader a well-written and READABLE account of Britain from the days before the Celts, who were followed by the Romans who were followed by the Anglo Saxons, who. . . well, you get the idea.

To my surprise, I found the opening third of the book which is dedicated to the Medieval kings and queens to be the most interesting part of the book. The Medieval era was a long one and was filled with many kings as well as battles and beheadings. These, too, continued for hundreds of years.

I must confess that I started reading the book to learn more about John of Gaunt who turns out to be one of my early British ancestors and the son of King Edward III. John of Gaunt was a fascinating man who never became king because of his birth order, but who nevertheless pretty much ran England at one time and was its wealthiest citizen, as well. Of course, he and his father, King Edward III and the Kings Edward before them would not be considered good people by modern standards with their wars and slaughtering and beheadings of their enemies, let alone in the way some of them treated their wives, but, nevertheless, they make for fascinating reading.

Strong takes the reader through the formation of parliament, through both World Wars and then on to the swing to a more socialized form of government in the 1900s. The book ends with an explanation of Great Britain's hesitancy to trade its image as an island nation that stands alone to one that is part of the EU. He ends with a discussion of the ramifications of isolationism as well as the pitfalls of being part of the continental union (the overwhelming flood of immigrants and the costs of housing and providing for these immigrants.) The book ends with Brexit.

I learned a great deal from this book and I'm certain I will reference it in the future.
I'm sure this tome would be considered heavy reading for some readers, but the fact that it reads fairly easily, all things considered, is why I rated it 5 stars. Also, I can only imagine the amount of research that went into its writing!

I should also mention that there are very interesting chapters dedicated to the luminaries of history, British and otherwise, such as Chaucer (brother-in-law to John of Gaunt), Shakespeare, William Caxton, the famous printer, John Wesley, Florence Nightingale and Margaret Thatcher.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an overview of history from the Romans to Brexit, this makes an interesting high level read but with a couple of important caveats.

I think this is the first time I’ve read a historical non-fiction without any footnotes or sourcing or even a bibliography, which was a little bizarre. So I would definitely treat this as a narrative retelling, as you can’t easily fact check or follow up on anything at all

As a narrative, this asp means being conscious that there is a degree of an “unreliable narrator”. The writer in some places is very opinionated, and there are some surprising sweeping generalisations or oversimplifications. You would think gay people never existed at all before the 21st century as the author assures the reader that before “there has been a firm structure and definite boundaries beyond which no one should overtly trespass in the wider interests of coherence and stability”. Apparently by the 90s, women’s interest in the home “ceased to be patriarchal” which is surprising given the many many recent studies showing that statistically women continue to bear the lion’s share of housework and childcare even when both partners work. Immigrants from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh apparently, unlike previous immigrants, “wished to form their own communities without integrating into the culture habit of their adopted country” resulting in certain cities becoming “ghetto-ised”. This is breathtakingly oversimplified, ignoring both the many examples of previous immigrant groups forming their own communities (see Chinatown, the Huguenot Weavers etc etc) and also the factors contributing to immigrant groups banding together such as systemic racism.

I enjoyed getting a sense of how each era of history followed on from the next, but just note that this is (as the title says!) in essence a story, rather than a history, of Britain.

[Eimear Delargy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Was going to give a four star review until i got to chapter 62 ‘Ireland departs’. I very unfortunately got to this chapter 430 pages into the book. Historically inaccurate and prejudiced. Makes me wonder whether what I had read in the preceding 430 was historically correct. Referring to the War of Independence as terrorism shows the prejudice of the writer. Stating that there was a civil war between North and south shows his ignorance.

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am giving three stars because I largely enjoyed this book up until the post-1945 period when it seemed to rapidly degenerate! As other reviewers have commented, the author's political views seem to become unleashed at this point, and especially from Thatcherism onwards some of the errata – a fourth (!) term of office for Mrs Thatcher (p 517, 2018 edition) and a 1981 general election (p529) that unfortunately never existed – seemed to me to suggest that the author had departed from the studious approach of earlier chapters and taken to casual polemic against a trade union movement which is never acknowledged as a genuine British institution or examined as a part of British history in its own right. While the edition that I read is a few years old now, Mr Strong's description of Brexit as "inevitable" has never been a reasonable or scholarly conclusion, and with a few more years behind us the suggestion that Brexit might become akin to "the defeats of the Spanish Armada, of Napoleon and Hitler" appears positively ridiculous. In hindsight, this ending to the book was foreshadowed in the almost relentless Anglocentrism of this history "of Britain", with the other nations that have formed part of our United Kingdom rearing their heads for a paragraph or so every few centuries. The three stars I am giving therefore really do testify to the quality of writing for much of this book, which I did enjoy reading up to the last few chapters. Those looking for a "history from below" will be disappointed, but this is an engaging narrative of political, socieconomic and cultural change through the centuries.

[Madeline Jobczynski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am giving this book a solid 2.5 stars (rounding to 3). While the writer does a decent job of capturing thousands of years of information in 541 pages, the writing just isn’t great. Not only is it boring, and sometimes opinionated, it’s just not written well. For example, I remember reading a sentence that mentioned 3 different male historical figures. The following sentence then began with the subject “he” and continued on, never clarifying which of the three historical figures was being written about in that sentence. This happened quite a lot actually. I frequently had to go back and reread paragraphs and sentences because the writing simply wasn’t clear. Also, the writer sometimes leaves out important information, assuming that we already know the information. For instance, in the last few chapters, the writer writes about some things Tony Blair did, never mentioning that Tony Blair was elected Prime Minister soon after Thatcher (I knew that. But not everyone might, especially if they don’t live in the UK). When the writer inserts historical figures into the text like this with no introduction and writes as if we know who they are as well as their role, it can be confusing. Overall, there were some chapters I found fascinating, but others were very boring and hard to follow. So that’s why I’m giving it 2.5 stars.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good read on British history from times of conquering by the Vikings to Brexit. Strong has evidence of implicit bias toward Britain, especially evident in the discussions of Britain’s merits toward the freedom of black people, women’s rights, and the United States. It was interesting seeing US events such as the revolutionary war & WWII discussed through a British lens - the Independence Wars are discussed as a mere blip in the reign of King George III with the continent’s citizens being described as little more than a population of ungrateful brats/rebels with Daddy (i.e. King George III) issues. The emphasis of the US on “no taxation without representation” was seen as an ungrateful response to a far-away empire that was providing “free” protection and defense. The Boston Massacre wasn’t even described as a massacre and the book outright denies the deaths of citizens. US involvement in WWII was stated to be due to the US admiring the heroism of the Brits more so than the events of Pearl Harbor. ANYWAY - I am sure I have grown up on plenty of American propaganda and that may be why this rubbed me the wrong way, but it was still fascinating to see.

Great read for any US citizen since we barely learn history AT ALL unless we seek opportunities to learn from more than a pedophilic wrestling coach.

[JwW White · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good overview of a very long and complex history. I learned a lot from reading this book. That said, it is often superficial in its coverage of major events (it ignores of glosses over some events and people as must happen in a review of 2000+ years of history). My biggest critique of the book is that while the author glosses over some areas, he perseverates on others. For example, he spends a great deal of time on post World War II politics, where he highlights his obvious laissez-faire conservatism by repeatedly decrying the socialist state (especially around education and the NHS). To him, Thatcher is a hero and Blair little more than a media-savvy lightweight. In this section he’s also prone to hyperbole: according to him, from the 1980s on, “This [an erosion of moral standards] happened at every level, until it finally eroded any authority’s parent or teacher might have over a child” (526). The book would have been far better had it not ended with dozens of pages of moralizing.

[Jackie Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very interesting history book, if you choose to look at it that way. This doesn’t pull any punches against as well as for the people of Britain and their affect of their own history. Very refreshing to read about as an American without the lenses of Europe. It made me think a lot.

However, if you are looking for a very entertaining book about the history of Britain from ancient times through to Post-Brexit, there's a few cons for me.

It definitely is dry (albeit factual) and it’s not exactly chronological, but more by event or important person. The Monarchy, which I originally picked up this book to learn more about, plays a small role in this overall story (I should have known it did) but was not prepared for the dry talk about Parliament and party politics. Some things were not explained well, as I didn’t understand the events in which I may have gained context.
All-together, I thought this book was an interesting read for a story of Britain.

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Through all the goodwill and all the atrocities, Britain has given the world an epic story that pours forth from an island of white cliffs out into the far corners of the earth. Never has there been a cultural ebb and flow quite like this one. You don’t have to particularly love Britain to appreciate the sheer massiveness of the scale of an epic unfurling that cannot be ignored in the greater context of Homo sapiens as a species.

The last of my ancestors from the island left Glasgow in 1913 for New York City. 81 years later I was born in America, 81 years removed from a firsthand British experience. The legacy of my ancestral culture is a complicated one, not without faults yet not without beauty. Nevertheless, I’m proud of my British heritage and I’m grateful to Mr. Strong for providing this incredible overview of the spectacularly rich tradition of the stone set in the silver sea.

[Sam Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strong's book is a compelling initial introduction to British history. This book is better suited for a reader looking for an extensive overview of the development of British society since ancient times. Some of Strong's biases shape his telling of British history in the book, but they do not detract from it. His passion for the subject keeps the book compelling, even when the battles and power struggles of medieval England give way to the decline of the British Empire in the 1950s.

The sharpest criticism of the book would simply be that it is much more a history of England and Britain than all the nations of Britain today. Welsh and Scottish histories are included, but only as they relate to England and the creation of Britain.

If you are looking for an introduction to English history, this is a strong place to start.

[Mae Leveson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Story of Britain is a comprehensive narrative of events covering the arrival of the Romans, right through to Brexit. I enjoyed the author’s style of writing, but must admit that I found this book quite heavy-going at times. This may, however, have been due more to my level of concentration, rather than the subject matter. It did get easier, once I reached the Victorians to the present day, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to gain a greater understanding of world events and how they influenced life in Great Britain.

[Bruce Bowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives the non-specialist (or even worse, American) reader an excellent 30 thousand foot view of British history from Pytheas of Marseilles (320 B.C.) to Brexit (2106 A.D). There is sufficient depth to introduce previously unknown areas of Britain's history while at the same time not focusing excessively one topic. This book is like a sampler plate of all things British. It also includes the sentence "History never ends but merely unfolds further chapters." which is worth the price of purchase all by itself.

[Michael Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid 3.5. Successfully squeezes 1000 years of history into 540 pages without it being too high level. I felt at times there was too much on transition of power and the monarchy and not enough on how life for the average person was evolving, though the author did periodically touch on this. The final 2 centuries were well done. As a non-Brit hearing most of this for the first time, it was tough to keep up at times. Overall very effective book to get a broad history of one of the most important countries to ever exist.

[Gina Eddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A concise and well written history of Britain. Good mix if social, cultural and political forces that defined the evolution of the island peoples to the present. Excellent source for developing a perspective from which to launch deeper dives into eras of British history. Thank you!

A concise and well written history of Britain. Good mix if social, cultural and political forces that defined the evolution of the island peoples to the present. Excellent source for developing a perspective from which to launch deeper dives into eras of British history. Thank you!

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

To cover 2000+ years of British history in one book meant that the information was limited about anyone time period or person, but it did give a wonderful feeling of the flow between rulers, monarchs, wars, and significant eras in history.
Read over 4 months for a class in my learning-in-retirement organization with discussion twice monthly on segments of the book. Definitely recommend the book

[Andrew Balog · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a one-volume history of one of the most influential nations in history, it certainly does the job. It's a fine line to tread between too much and too little detail when trying to cover ~2000 years of history, and starts to expand more when getting to recent centuries. My main gripe is that most of the social commentary from 1900 onward felt lazy and came close to derailing my enjoyment of the book.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a very informative, engaging read about British history. The chapters are short, succinct summaries of each major historical event or monarch in British history with several chapters highlighting important people such as Thomas More, Charles Darwin, William Wilberforce and Florence Nightingale. I've always wondered how the British Empire went from controlling a large part of the globe to where it is today and the final chapters did a good job of addressing this question.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book, could t put it down. Perfect amount of detail and pace of British history from the beginning to modern day.
The only preference would have been to have more detail dedicated to kings and queens in the latter parts of the book rather than being almost entirely focussed on politics from 1945 onwards.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really well written and very approachable history of Great Britain from just before the Romans to Brexit. Engaging writing, short chapters, some good stories and fun insights. I really enjoyed it - but then I am a nerd from the get go!

[Caleb Blevins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book. Strong does not go very deep into some of the histories but it’ll he does not merely survey them either. Very unbiased and true history of England. Also revealed a lot of periods and people that I am hoping to read more about in the future.

[Joseph Ernest · Rating 3 out of 5]

i liked learning about all the different monarchs, especially the early ones. it was interesting to read about people who have stuff in new zealand names after them too. but i didnt like the tone of the author when he talking about imperialist stuff and colonial exploits. found that quite weird.

[Sped Erstad · Rating 3 out of 5]

About as good as you can do fitting 2000 years into 500 pages. Gave a good overview of some glaring holes in my British history - and piqued my interest to dig a bit deeper into those areas. Got a little tedious by the end...