This Sceptred Isle Vol 2: The Twentieth Century - Hardcover

Lee, Christopher

4.04

48 ratings by Goodreads

9780563384724: This Sceptred Isle Vol 2: The Twentieth Century

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0563384727 ISBN 13: 9780563384724

Publisher: BBC Books, 1999

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Christopher Lee s seminal history series, which accompanied the awardwinning BBC radio series, narrates the rich and gripping story of Britain, from the Roman Invasion in 55 BC to the dawn of the 21st century. In this volume, the author looks at Britain from the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 up to the present day. The text covers the century's major political and economic events, as well as the scientific and cultural changes that have influenced the day-to-day lives of British people."

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Review:

To form a view of where Britain is at today, and indeed when it has been here before, take a look at This Sceptred Isle--Twentieth Century, sequel to the award-winning earlier text This Sceptred Isle,covering the Romans to Queen Victoria. The writer is a specialist in contemporary and military history who has aimed this book specifically at the general reader. The style is almost conversational and the comment circumspect, taking care to view actions in the context of their times. Organised chronologically, chapters on each decade are sub-divided into a section for each year, so that the book may be used as a reference tool and need not necessarily be read cover to cover--beneficial in what is a long text not broken by illustrations.

The coverage includes major world events and extends to sport, the arts and medicine. Also recorded are diverting details of everyday life, such as the appearance of the board game Monopoly and the first advertisement on British television. Containing more fact than philosophy, presenting opinions without being opinionated and taking the spin out of politics, Twentieth Century reports 100 years of unrest and fast-paced change and yet clearly expresses that our problems are not new and that in some significant ways the 20th century ends as it began. --Karen Tiley

About the Author:

Christopher Lee was the first Quatercentenary Fellow in Contemporary History at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and is the latest editor of Churchill's HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH- SPEAKING PEOPLES. He conceived and wrote the enormously successful SCEPTEREDISLE series for Radio 4. He lives in Chewton Mendip, Somerset.

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