JAMES HAWES

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EXPLORE THE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH ISLES THROUGH 80 EXTRAORDINARY CREATIONS, FROM BEOWULF AND THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY TO BANKSY, STORMZY, AND BEYONDA companion book to the landmark BBC series, Brilliant Isles tells the story of these islands through art, music, buildings and literature the creations of visionaries, mavericks and rule-breakers who responded to their times and shaped the future. Whether read cover-to-cover or dipped into, this is a vibrant, surprising and witty guide to a unique culture, by one of our sharpest writers'Hawes's view of English history is sharp and vivid and extremely persuasive'PHILIP PULLMAN'At last a chance to get to grips with the entire history of England, and all in a few hours!'MAIL ON SUNDAY'An engaging, informative sprint through the story of our little island'INDEPENDENT'thorough and absorbing... [Hawes] brings the story right up to date, able to step back from the current madness with admirable clarity NEW EUROPEAN'A fantastic read. I would recommend it to anyone.'PAT KENNY, Newstalk Ireland'Such a thought-provoking read...

EXPLORE THE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH ISLES THROUGH 80 EXTRAORDINARY CREATIONS, FROM BEOWULF AND THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY TO BANKSY, STORMZY, AND BEYONDA companion book to the landmark BBC series, Brilliant Isles tells the story of these islands through art, music, buildings and literature the creations of visionaries, mavericks and rule-breakers who responded to their times and shaped the future. Whether read cover-to-cover or dipped into, this is a vibrant, surprising and witty guide to a unique culture, by one of our sharpest writersHawess view of English history is sharp and vivid and extremely persuasivePHILIP PULLMANAt last a chance to get to grips with the entire history of England, and all in a few hours!MAIL ON SUNDAYAn engaging, informative sprint through the story of our little islandINDEPENDENTthorough and absorbing... [Hawes] brings the story right up to date, able to step back from the current madness with admirable clarity NEW EUROPEANA fantastic read. I would recommend it to anyone.PAT KENNY, Newstalk IrelandSuch a thought-provoking read...

READ IN A DAY. REMEMBER FOR A LIFETIME. In his bestselling, internationally-acclaimed The Shortest History of Germany, James Hawes told the story of a nation in 240 invigorating pages, tracing the roots of todays challenges back to the first encounters with Rome. In The Shortest History of England, he takes the same approach to his homeland. As he journeys from Caesar to Brexit via Conquest, Empire and World War, he discovers an England very different to the standard vision. Our stable island fortress, stubbornly independent, the begetter of parliaments and globe-spanning empires, is riven by an ancient fault-line that predates even the Romans; its fate has ever been bound up with that of its neighbours, whether we like it or not; and -- for the past 1,000 years -- it has harboured a class system like nowhere else on Earth. There has never been a better time to understand why England is the way it is -- and there is no better guide.

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