I am just starting this book and find it very enjoyable. I like the way this book is written. It holds my interest and flows well. I am learning much that I never knew before.
I guess I'm not so critical or picky as some readers. If there are some mistakes, so what. I haven't noticed. Of course, I've only started this book. But I read alot and do not always expect authors to be perfect. And sometimes when I think there may be an error, if it is important to me , I will try to do some research to find out if I am correct.
As to the person complaining about the reference to corn during the time of the Romans; the word "corn" has many different meanings depending on what country you are in.
Corn in the United States is also called maize or Indian corn.
In some countries, corn means the leading crop grown in a certain district. Corn in England means wheat; in Scotland and Ireland, it refers to oats. Corn mentioned in the Bible probably refers to wheat or barley.
Naturally, when our British forebears jumped off the Mayflower and found the American Natives brandishing long green stalks with funny yellow things pointing out of them, "corn" was the first word that came to mind, and the name stuck in American English.
Considering that the author is from England, I doubt that she is refering to Indian corn or maize which was brought back to Europe well after the Romans.

This is a very good book. Fraser has a difficult task in covering the history of Britain from the Roman invasion to 2003. She passes with flying colors. This book gives you an excellent overview of British history. You will learn who mattered, what mattered, and why. You will gain an understanding of the British, particularly English, psyche. This book does a good job explaining the evolution of Britain over the years and the various influences on this important nation. It does not cover everything in minute detail, but given the breadth and complexity of the topic, this would be an unrealistic expectation. However, at 785 pages of text it provides sufficient detail for a book of its breadth. If you are looking for a single book to learn about British history this is a very good choice.

I purchased the book, The Story of Britain. for my husband who is not an historian. Rebecca Fraser has writtten a most readable version that kept his interest, in spite of being an engineer by training . She has been clear and concise but tells the history of her nation in an easy to understand fashion. I would recommend this volumne to anyone who wants to get a better understanding of British history. Well done, Rebecca!

Britain is one of the countries most responsible for making the modern world what it is today, and Rebecca Fraser covers the history of that great nation from Roman times to the early twenty-first century in "The Story of Britain".

The author stresses the strong commitment on the part of the British people to personal liberty, exemplified by the adoption almost eight centuries ago of the Magna Carta, which set up the principle of the rule of law that is still the foundation of the justice system of the Anglosphere today.

Fraser manages to cover adequately two thousand years of monarchs, wars, laws, literature, prime ministers, religious movements, technological advances, and social trends in less than 800 pages--the coverage of the English Civil War is especially compelling. At the end of the book, there are tables of the monarchs and prime ministers of the country. This is a very good one-volume history of one of the world's most important nations.

True to its name, this book is indeed a story. In fact, it reads like a transcription of an oral history--it jumps around, looses threads, and is plan wrong in some places. Also, it many ways, it is a collection of anecdotes, rather than a cohesive history. It needed a heavy-handed editor to pull it together and fix errors such as word omissions and grammatical mistakes that made for a difficult read at times. Probably the biggest flaw for the American reader is that it relies heavily on common cultural knowledge of Britain (e.g., how Parliament works)--this is not necessarily a bad thing, of course, but it can leave the reader foundering if she isn't familiar with the subtext. Overall, I enjoyed reading it, but it helps to read it more for background and a sense of the environment rather than an academic work of history.

Welcome to the world of style over substance.

As other reviewers have noted, glaring and disturbing errors show up every few pages.

I'm 20 pages in and was stopped dead in my proverbial tracks last night when reading a passage wherein the author indicates that the ancient Roman province of Britain had 'drained their marshes and lowlands' to become the great producers of CORN for the empire.

Um...WHAT?! CORN?!

That really IS quite the accomplishment. Given that CORN is an a crop indigenous to the Americas, and was unknown to the Romans and the ancient British, being the world largest producer of the stuff must have been REALLY challenging.

[...]

The narrative style is engaging and quick reading, but how do I continue to read a book with errors so glaring. How can I trust that information I am 'learning' for the first time is accurate when other information that I can validate I find completely inaccurate?

Very disappointing. Almost as disappointing as the selection for Kindle on British history.

I'll not continue the book, and I'd hope, in this age of 'close enough is good enough' books like this will start to be reviewed for their content rather than their style.

If you want a more solid understanding of your heritage and the institutions which set the English-speaking world apart from the rest, start here. This is equally true if you are British or American, or from one of the other former colonies. The breadth and scope of the book is reasonably comprehensive without being overwhelming. While the texture naturally becomes more detailed as you approach the present time, there is sufficient material on all periods of Britain's history since Roman times; Fraser takes the first half of the book to get up to the end of the Stuart period (1714).

The author is very evenhanded; few of Britain's rulers have been all good or all bad. The road to Britain's rise to power was very uneven, and the potholes are all here. We lose so much when we forget how we got where we are. Once you read this, you can build supplement it with books of narrower scope, but this book provides the essential framework.

As a student of British literature, I found Ms. Fraser's book to be an excellent introduction to the respective periods in which I work. As a veritable "who's who" of British history, its particular value is in it being decidedly old-fashioned; refraining from the modern tendency towards "revisionist history" (even in most so-called "introductory" texts), Ms. Fraser's book may best be used as a succint amalgamation of more standard historical points of view. The author, however, does have the tendency to "overcram" her prose with too many dates, proper names, battles, and the like. The result sometimes makes for difficult reading, as the reader is expected to follow without much further guidance the frequently jolting shifts in ideology, international alliances, and the conferment of various titles. However, were one to approach the text with a specific period or reign in mind, one would no doubt find much of value in Ms. Fraser's ambitious and comprehensive account.

I am reading this for an English History class and LOVE it. Yeah sure, it's History but this book is written like a story. Each chapter covers a different English monarch so it makes it a lot easier to find information. This is a great book!

The kings and queens, the battles, the anecdotes -- if that's the history you're wanting, then Rebecca Fraser has the book for you.

The book is odd in some respects; for instance, she gives a great deal of attention to monarchs, but shys away from even wondering if Richard I, Edward II, or James I were homosexual (while obliquely giving us the manner of Edward's murder, and acknowledging James's fondness for pretty young men). In a book that's so personality-driven, that's a glaring omission.

But one can only go so far criticizing a book about "Britain from the Romans to Tony Blair" for what it fails to include. Either as an introduction or as an overview, the book does its job readably and well, for what it is. If you want social history, etc., try something more academic.

I should say, this is the most enjoyable British history I have ever read. Although more than 800 pgs, you would only find it is difficult to put down the book once you begin to read. Though not an academic reference in strict sense, the book can help you obtain a general understanding of the thousands years' history of a country which has been so prominent in human civilization. I trust that your further interest on this topic would be raised after going through the whole length of this book.

Studying English literature (distance learning)at London School of Journalism requires at least a rudimentary knowledge of British history and I, being a foreigner, (from Slovenia) have a very modest knowledge of it so far. I admit I have ordered this book trusting on my luck- and I am sure it is a direct hit!
Although I have only been able to study first 200 pages, I am already convinced that I have got THE book I really need; because:
- it is easy readable, especially for a foreigner
- the articles are short, consise and of manageable size.
- the articles are sufficiently equipped with charts and pictures
- I would not dare to review the content- but I really enjoy this
extremely interesting and charmingly written narrative book.

Rebecca Fraser the author of "The Story of Britain" is the daughter of famed historian Lady Antonia Fraser. Rebecca continues the excellent tradition of her mother by this 785 page behemoth of a book. In these closely printed pages Fraser unfolds the pageantry, poetry, politics and personalities that have made GB the oldest democracy in the world.
Fraser has divided her book up by reporting in concise prose the history of each monarch's reign. She covers all the kings and queens from Roman times to the long reign of the present Queen Elizabeth II.
The sections are:
1. Norman and Angevin: 1066-1216
2. Plantagenet: 1216-1399.
3. Lancastrian and Yorkist-1399-1485
4. Tudor-1485-1603
5. Stuart-1603-1714
6. Hanoverian-1717-1901
7. Saxe-Coburg: The reign of Edward VII-1901-1910
8. Windsor-1910-the present.
This book was originally published for the general audience in England. An American, however, with a scant knowledge of British history could follow the fascinating story with ease. Fraser's style is elegantly easy to comprehend even when explaining complex economic, relgious and political controversies.
I assert that this fine book would be a good textbook for an introductory course on British history or it could serve as a valuable resource in a course on Enlish Literature.
Fraser's book focuses on politics,& royalty and gives little space to the lives of everyday people. In that sense it is an old fashioned type histiography. The book is well illustrated with period etchings and photos. Her work on post-1900 was especially well done as she describes World War I and World War's II's devastation of the British Empire. Her words on Prime Minister Magaret Thatcher were also valuable.
The book has a handy bibliography of works which will lead the interested reader to exploring personalities, reigns and times which are covered in the Fraser text. Unlike many books in my library I know I will be referring to this one for years to come. Worth it's price!

I found this book very helpful in learning about British history. I am looking for the emotional and psychological quality of the times which many books don't give. This book does. It is filled with descriptions of what the people who ruled Britain were like, not just what they did and when. There are places where it skips back and forth -- in fact the place a previous commentator found confusing is where I was confused for a bit -- but that is a minor flaw as far as I am concerned.

More importantly for me, is that pages go by without even a year being mentioned. I would like more of "in November, 1702, things got worse".

This book needs to be edited, horribly. There are many grammatical errors along with some words being completely left out. Not to mention, she has a tendency to jump back and forth, which is VERY confusing. When I am reading about how a king is defending his country against the Danes, I don't want the story to all of the sudden change into a story about when he is in hiding! (I'm only on page 72 and I'm already annoyed) After reading some of the other reviews, I would advise you NOT use this book for a paper, find another source. I am reading this book for fun and after I am done I am going to find another book by a more reputable historian.

This book was an enjoyable read, covering the history of Britain (including Scotland and Ireland) from Roman times through the present day. Almost every chapter covers the reign of an English king or queen. The book is written in a conversational style, which made the nearly 800 pages of text fly along. Interesting drawings, paintings, and photographs are interspersed within the text. Family trees included at the end make it easier to follow the relationships and intrigues among the various rulers. Two things would have improved the book: the inclusion of likenesses of all the kings and queens instead of limiting them to a select few, and the inclusion footnotes tying the text to the original sources. (There is an extensive list of references, but it is just not feasible to find the source of a particular statement from such a list.)

I have always enjoyed reading about American history, and to fully appreciate it, I feel I need to read about British history as well; it serves as something of a prologue. I went into Rebecca Fraser's Story of Britain optimistically, and while the writing is generally good, this is like a statue that looks good at a distance but close up, all the cracks are visible. The quality of this book is diminished by these "cracks".

The book covers Britain from Roman times to 2002. The first chapter deals with the Roman occupation of Britain, the next two with the early (pre-Norman invasion) kings and the remaining chapters cover each king's or queen's reign. For much of the book, these chapters are essentially biographies of the royals, but around the time of the Hanoverian kings (Georges I, II and III), the royalty fades into the background and this becomes a tale of Parliament and Prime Ministers.

The title for the British release of this book called it a "People's History" but that is appropriately changed for the U.S. release. This is not a history of the "people"; instead, it focuses almost exclusively on the people in power. The lives of the regular people are rarely discussed in any detail. Similarly, Fraser doesn't discuss much of the culture; there are a few references to Shakespeare and Dickens, but Shaw is only mentioned once, and many others not at all (including big-name writers like Oscar Wilde and - modern times - influential British musicians such as the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Who) who had an effect on culture and society.

That, however is not really a flaw; it's just that Fraser's emphasis is more on the royalty and the politicians. But there are real problems. There is the occasional anachronism (such as referring to early Brits as "English" long before they really qualified as this subgroup). Fraser also avoids certain issues; for example, while she has no problem discussing various mistresses, she seems to have an aversion about discussing the possible homosexuality of certain monarchs (such as Edward II), instead just allowing vague hints.

Most grating, however, are the outright errors that pop up in this book. She incorrectly defines the Diaspora as being caused by the Romans (it was caused by the Babylonians); she misnames the American naval hero as "Paul Jones" and she says Sputnik put a man in orbit. If she gets these things wrong, it is harder to rely on the rest of her material. The lack of any footnoting (she only provides a "Further Reading" list) exacerbates the problem.

Generally, however, Fraser is a reasonably good writer and if one assumes that the errors are infrequent (even if sometimes they are glaring), then this is an informative book as well. Overall, I rate it a low three stars; I cannot really recommend it and feel that there are probably better books out there on the same subject.

Rebecca Fraser takes on the daunting task of condensing the entire history of Britain into 785 pages. She does an excellent job, even if at the end it feels as though she, herself, is rushing to get through it and not giving recent history the loving, detailed attention she did the ancient history. At first I tried very hard to keep up with each character, but this was an exercise in frustration as Britain has so many rich characters that even the genealogical charts at the back of the book do little to help this poor American keep track of everybody. Once I stopped focusing so hard on remembering all the players, I was able to sit back and enjoy the book quite thoroughly as an overview of stuff I did not know and a review of stuff I did know. As an American, I enjoyed getting the British perspective on the Anglo-U.S. relationship. I also appreciated the concise, yet detailed narrative of the events leading up to, during and after World War II. The only thing that keeps me from giving this 5 stars is that at the end, the names and events tangle endlessly as the story becomes more complex. However, I feel this is not through any lack of skill on the author's part, but rather because of the difficulty in condensing the extremely complex history of Britain in the 20th Century into 125 pages. Perhaps it would have been better if she had divided the book into two volumes-- but then again, if she had, it probably would not have been quite so inviting.

I enjoyed this overview of English history, organized by the reigning Monarch or, in the case of Oliver Cromwell, the Protector. There is nothing wrong with writing popular history.

I regret, therefore, that whenever Ms. Fraser (no relation) encounters American history, her ignorance is almost total. For example, she claims that the Japanese planes which attacked Pearl Harbor flew "all the way" to Pearl, which makes it sound like they came from Japan. It is too bad she or her publisher could not find someone with knowledge of American history to read the text for inaccuracies and serious distortions.

This is a non-pretentious history of England, mostly. There are no foootnotes and the three-page bibliography shows there is no original research. But for all that it is a good work, telling the story reign-by-reign from the time of the Romans till about 2002. After you read it you should read 1066 and All That, since you will be prepared to appreciate even more the humor of that great volume. I also found the account of Britain since the Second World War of great interest--maybe because it was turning into history what one has pcked up day by day during the period involved. The whole volume is easy to read and tells a great story.

I truly enjoyed Rebecca Fraser's history of Britain and give it my highest recommendation. She covers 2000 years of history in 750 pages, discussing all the kings, prime ministers, parliamentary issues, and civil wars in a thoroughly readable fashion. Time and again, Fraser informed me about a subject, then sensibly and effortlessly segued to the next event. She presents the facts, the famous stories, and the fun anecdotes without a great deal of editorial analysis and - to my way of thinking - without a great deal of bias.

As with any survey of this amount of time, her coverage of most events is brief - never more than ten pages to a topic - but she engages the reader, and absolutely prepared me to read more detailed histories of the most compelling figures and times. Included are an excellent list of recommended books, quite a few clear maps, and adequate illustrations.

My biggest quibble with the book is the lack of detail about everyday lives as she discusses the first 1,400 years or so of history. As time marches on, the reader gets a much better sense of everyday life as Fraser talks about child labor, land ownership, health care, etc. but little information about changes in social organization is included in the first 300 pages of her work. I would have benefited from either a few more pages of this early history of a few less details about kings, civil wars, and religious disputes. Still, this is a book I will keep for years to come, and I am sure I will refer to it again and again. Combining its low price, the extremely engaging writing style, and the fact that the book works as a reference book, you can't go wrong.