Battlefield Britain: From Boudicca to the Battle of Britain - Hardcover

Snow, Dan; Snow, Peter

4.18

40 ratings by Goodreads

9780563487890: Battlefield Britain: From Boudicca to the Battle of Britain

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0563487895 ISBN 13: 9780563487890

Publisher: BBC Books, 2004

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For much of its long history, Britain has been bloodily ravaged by war and internal strife: foreign invasions have devastated British society, bitter battles have been fought over social and political rights, and brutal warlords have torn the country apart in their struggles for dominance.

In Battlefield Britain , father and son team Peter and Dan Snow tell the story of eight decisive battles that have done much to shape the Britain we know today: Boudiccas revolt against Rome (AD 601); the Battle of Hastings (1066); the Battle for Wales (140010); the Spanish Armada (1588); the Battle of Naseby (1645); the Battle of the Boyne (1690); the Battle of Culloden (1746) and the Battle of Britain (1940).

For the first time, ground-breaking computer graphics are used to recreate the ebb and flow of these famous battles in dramatic and vivid detail. Peter Snow, as well known for his strategic analysis as his swingometer, and Dan, a young military historian, combine their skills to form a unique writing team. In addition to explaining the battleplans of the great military commanders they also reveal what it was like to be an ordinary soldier on the front line, where the battle was at its fiercest. Spanning nearly two thousand years of British history, Battlefield Britain takes us into the heat of each battle as it unfolds to bring alive Britains turbulent past as never before. Chapter breakdown: Introduction Chapter 1 Boudiccas Revolt - 61AD Chapter 2 Hastings 1066 Chapter 3 Shrewsbury 1403 Chapter 4 Bosworth Field 1485 Chapter 5 Naseby 1645 Chapter 6 The Boyne 1690 Chapter 7 Culloden 1746 Chapter 8 The Battle of Britain Epilogue

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Review:

Battlefield Britain could be a very useful - as well as a very enjoyable - book. A recent survey of schoolchildren asked who this country had fought in the Second World War – many answered ‘Russia’. In the light of this ignorance of history (not confined to schoolchildren!), someone like Peter Snow (not to mention his very able son and co-author) is more and more valuable: he is one of the great educators and conveyors of information, but always in a highly accessible fashion. This book (accompanying a fascinating TV series) takes the reader on a remarkable historical journey, demonstrating quite what a bloody and war-torn past this country can lay claim to. From violent foreign invasions to massive internal strife (both political and religious), the landscape of Great Britain is a chequerboard of struggle.

The father and son team describes eight key battles that virtually forged the country we live in today; for instance, the battle with the Roman Empire by the doughty Boudicca (remember when she was called Bodicea?) in AD 60, the Battle of Hastings (the one date in British history that everyone knows!) and the fight with Spanish Armada in 1588 are vividly recreated with the aid of handsome colour plates, artefacts and drawings. Snow’s use of the 'swingometer' on TV to measure political upheavals may be much mocked, but that sense of playfulness (combined with totally authoritative knowledge) serves well here, and the result is a million miles away from the stultifying history lessons most of us sat through in dusty classrooms. Battlefield Britain is history brought to life, in the most evocative fashion. --Barry Forshaw

Review:

Spanning nearly 2,000 years of history, Battlefield Britain takes us into the heat of eight decisive battles, bringing to life, as never before, Britain's turbulent past.

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