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annagrac's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating and comprehensive history of England. The scope of this book is incredible and the perspective truly epic.
bowienerd_82's review against another edition
2.0
Revisionist and congratulatory, this is more a political, economic, and cultural appraisal of England than an actual history. The author ignored or brushed over anything that didn't fit his narrative, didn't bother to fully research the things he wasn't interested in, and passed off casual opinions as facts.
For someone who isn't well-versed in historical knowledge of the UK, this is actually a very frustrating book, as Tombs rarely bothers to go into any detail whatsoever about important events, and often makes references to historical markers without actually explaining them. As an American with a fairly decent background in European history, I found this book immensely frustrating for what it lacked, not to mention extremely aggravating for what it contained. The author clearly was lacking in education about American history, which I have no problem with, except he kept referring to American historical events as benchmarks of comparison for England. If you're going to do that, more research is in order. My knowledge of continental European history is not great enough to critique his comparisons of England with Germany and Scandinavia, but I imagine they were equally lacking. (The author's background is in French history, so I suppose that history was the best researched and written.)
I am baffled by the almost universal appreciation for this book, because it is frequently hysterically opinionated, vaguely imperialist, and almost psychotically upbeat. The author lacks nuance and frequently comes off as pompous and self-righteous.
And yet I read the whole thing, as it did have some narrative value.
For someone who isn't well-versed in historical knowledge of the UK, this is actually a very frustrating book, as Tombs rarely bothers to go into any detail whatsoever about important events, and often makes references to historical markers without actually explaining them. As an American with a fairly decent background in European history, I found this book immensely frustrating for what it lacked, not to mention extremely aggravating for what it contained. The author clearly was lacking in education about American history, which I have no problem with, except he kept referring to American historical events as benchmarks of comparison for England. If you're going to do that, more research is in order. My knowledge of continental European history is not great enough to critique his comparisons of England with Germany and Scandinavia, but I imagine they were equally lacking. (The author's background is in French history, so I suppose that history was the best researched and written.)
I am baffled by the almost universal appreciation for this book, because it is frequently hysterically opinionated, vaguely imperialist, and almost psychotically upbeat. The author lacks nuance and frequently comes off as pompous and self-righteous.
And yet I read the whole thing, as it did have some narrative value.
cdubbs30's review against another edition
4.0
It was more a political and economic history than anything, and Tombs takes a pretty conservative stance. But I have a better understanding now of some really lovely parts of my heritage (social welfare dating back to the 17th century, early high literacy rates, religious toleration, parliamentary democracy, engaged local community) and some more painful parts (colonialism, war). I was also reminded that: the world is complex; navigating it together, whether as a small group or a nation, is really hard; the decisions we make have significant and often unintended consequences; and good intentions are not enough, impact matters.
badgermode's review against another edition
2.0
Interesting and informative but ultimately does not carry through on its promise. Far, far too much narrative that is not used to further the thesis, resulting in a needlessly long book.