Somhairle Kelly (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mirrorshard) wrote2007-12-18 02:01 pm
mirrorshard) wrote2007-12-18 02:01 pm
Entry tags:
Book recommendation
The other evening, I was wandering through Border's and got mugged by John O'Farrell's An Utterly Impartial History of Britain - or, 2000 years of Upper Class Idiots In Charge.
It's a wonderful book - the history of Britain from 55 BCE to 1945 CE, without assuming that you knew any of it in the first place. O'Farrell's not a Historian, and he's wonderful in his treatment of the normal pop-history subjects like kings and generals and battles. There's been a big movement in historical studies to get away from things like that, but most of them - being Historians rather than satirists, polemicists, or straight-talking socialists - concentrate on writing about social trends and changes rather than pointing out in detail just what a bunch of incompetent idiots we all get taught to look up to.
On the other hand, he's also good at this history business - his bibliography's quite impressive. Not incredibly extensive, but it's there and it's got the right names on.
It's a wonderful book - the history of Britain from 55 BCE to 1945 CE, without assuming that you knew any of it in the first place. O'Farrell's not a Historian, and he's wonderful in his treatment of the normal pop-history subjects like kings and generals and battles. There's been a big movement in historical studies to get away from things like that, but most of them - being Historians rather than satirists, polemicists, or straight-talking socialists - concentrate on writing about social trends and changes rather than pointing out in detail just what a bunch of incompetent idiots we all get taught to look up to.
On the other hand, he's also good at this history business - his bibliography's quite impressive. Not incredibly extensive, but it's there and it's got the right names on.