The English and their History
The First Thirteen Centuries
1st Edition
Published on 6. November 2014
1056 pages
978-0-14-197679-2 (ISBN)
Description
The acclaimed account of the English people, now updated with two new chapters
'Masterful, an enormously readable narrative of the English people from the Anglo-Saxons to the present' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times, Books of the Year
In The English and their History, the first full-length account to appear in one volume for many decades, Robert Tombs gives us the history of the English people, and of how the stories they have told about themselves have shaped them, from the prehistoric 'dreamtime' through to the present day.
'As ambitious as it is successful . . . Packed with telling detail and told with gentle, sardonic wit, a vast and delightful book' Ben MacIntyre, The Times, Books of the Year
'A stupendous achievement ... a story of a people we can't fail to recognize: stoical, brave, drunken, bloody-minded, violent, undeferential, yet paradoxically law-abiding ... I found myself gripped' Daniel Hannan, Spectator
'Original and enormously readable, this brilliant, hugely engaging work has a sly wit and insouciance that are of themselves rather English' Sinclair MacKay, Daily Telegraph
'Masterful, an enormously readable narrative of the English people from the Anglo-Saxons to the present' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times, Books of the Year
In The English and their History, the first full-length account to appear in one volume for many decades, Robert Tombs gives us the history of the English people, and of how the stories they have told about themselves have shaped them, from the prehistoric 'dreamtime' through to the present day.
'As ambitious as it is successful . . . Packed with telling detail and told with gentle, sardonic wit, a vast and delightful book' Ben MacIntyre, The Times, Books of the Year
'A stupendous achievement ... a story of a people we can't fail to recognize: stoical, brave, drunken, bloody-minded, violent, undeferential, yet paradoxically law-abiding ... I found myself gripped' Daniel Hannan, Spectator
'Original and enormously readable, this brilliant, hugely engaging work has a sly wit and insouciance that are of themselves rather English' Sinclair MacKay, Daily Telegraph
Reviews / Votes
Writing the entire history of the English people, from start to finish, may seem a dementedly ambitious undertaking. But the Cambridge historian Robert Tombs pulls it off with penetrating wit, lovely colour and a positively Victorian swagger. Rich in anecdote as well as analysis, his book breaks with academic orthodoxy by treating England as a genuinely distinctive nation. The English have been blessed by tremendous good luck, he argues, but we also owe a great deal to our ancestors, who built some of the most enduring institutions in the world. "England," he writes, "is a rambling old property with ancient foundations, a large Victorian extension, a 1960s garage, and some annoying leaks and draughts balancing its period charm." * The Times, Best Non Fiction Books of the 21st Century *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Illustrations
32pp colour
File size
65,75 MB
ISBN-13
978-0-14-197679-2 (9780141976792)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
11/2023
Penguin
€26.50
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Robert Tombs
The English and their History
Book
11/2014
Allen Lane
€63.33
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Person
Robert Tombs is Emeritus Professor of French History at Cambridge, and a Fellow of St John's College. Most of his writing and teaching has been on French and European history and on Franco-British relations, for which he was awarded the Palmes Academiques by the French government. Since his foray into English history, with the publication of The English and Their History in 2014, he has become a frequent commentator on contemporary issues, and is co-editor of the pro-Brexit academic website Briefings for Britain.
