Rating: 
Summary: Magna Britania!
Review: A must have for any teacher of AP European History. Perfect for "After-School Theater" sessions. This series is nearly all you'll need to highlight and review most of the events of British history which are crucial in the AP European History curriculum.Undoubtedly, this very modern series was produced with an adult audience in mind, as Schama's (at times) over-dramatic use of metaphor and allusion often flies over the heads of my 14 and 15 year old students. But generally, they have no problem following the basic storylines which Schama has laid out. Most seem to rather enjoy the presentation - especially those who "get" Schama's more subtle side. Overall, the series is informative, entertaining, and told from a very human perspective. For much of the series, Schama is narrating from the very places where the events he is discussing took place - helping to give the viewer feeling of participation. (At a minimum, one at least feels, a bit, as if they've just taken a trip to Britain.) Add to this a good amount of historical reenactment, and you get a very different style from Ken Burns - fascinating and relevant in its own right. Most noteworthy for AP use are the episodes on disc III: "The Body of the Queen" - the story of Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots
"The British Wars" - covering the reign of Charles I and the 17th century civil wars.
"Revolutions" - from Oliver Cromwell through the Glorious Revolution. Overall, this series is a very worthwhile purchase - one of the best DVD sets I've seen. Definitely the best, and most complete set on British history. Worth every haypenny!
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant series that makes history alive!
Review: There are a lot of history specials out there, but none so brilliantly conceived and realised at this series. I love history, especially the history of Britain, and so it was never dry, stale facts to me. But few bring it into focus, make it so accessible, and cut through the fat, so to speak, to give you a clean, logical, common sense approach to History of England 101 Crash Course as Simon Schama does. Each episode is well-written, fast paced and thoughtfully crafted, with marvellous location work to support his tromp through the corridors of time. He discards dates as the primary input and goes to the movers and shakers, makes you see the Kings and King makers with eyes that are fresh and vital. After you travel this amazing journey through time, you will be sadden that history is not present this way in the schools and we all did not have Schama as our teacher! Nirvana for British History lovers!
Rating:
Summary: A Must for any Anglophile...
Review: A History of Britain is a wonderful but pricey treat for any fan of British history. Some of the negative reviews complain that it is too superficial. How, I would ask, can you give a COMPLETE history of a country that spans 5,000 years? The collection consists of 15 hour-long documentaries starting from Britain's earliest past, five-thousand years ago. We see the still-standing stone communities where the ancient British dwelled. Of course, Simon Schama must be selective in what he chooses to discuss. Each episode has a theme. Although all the major points of British history are touched upon, Schama will focus on the most interesting bits of each event - how and why they happened and what they meant. He tries to give us a sense of reasons behind historical events and not just dates and places. My favorite episode deals with Henry II - arguably England's greatest and most under-appreciated monarch. We see his troubles with Thomas a Beckett. Schama re-creates, in vivid detail, what the "Murder in the Cathedral" was like: Beckett was not a plaster saint, but a street-wise tough kid from the wrong side of the docks who fearlessly faced down his murderers. Visually, the series shows some re-enactments with actors. There are many voice-over readings of historical documents. Schama is the only featured performer. He takes you to the various places and narrates in a very distinctive, clipped manner of speaking. Ultimately, it is the shots of the timeless Britain that are the most effective - the hills, the meadows, and especially the sea. These are the bits that have remained the same and convey the greatest feeling of history. I can't imagine anybody not being fascinated by this program. They are very re-watchable. Having examined them, you will feel a much deeper understanding of British history - and indeed world history. Perhaps no other country has a story as fascinating, as rich, or as varied as Britain's. Watch this and you will know why.
Rating:
Summary: I wish Simon Schama had been my history teacher.
Review: Perhaps I'm wrong, but history seems to be undergoing a renaissance in Britain at the moment. In the week between Christmas and New Year I actually heard one particularly talent-less hack say that History is the new reality TV, I mean please! The upside of this is that series like this one are made. Simon Schama gives us what I suppose could be best described as a "Whistle Stop Tour" through the events and people who wrote the history of England, Britain and consequently the world in the past 1000 years. Presented in a sometimes irreverent and always entertaining way, Schama takes the dusty old ornaments of history down from the mantelpiece and gives them a good scrubbing. Long dead Monarchs and everyday people seem less distant, their motives more comprehensible, the man truly has a gift. In Britain, the BBC are often the subject of worry or doubts about it's future survival much less viability, with people looking back on a time when BBC was a byword for quality and lamenting a perceived decline in standards, but as long as she continues to produce this standard of programme auntie's health will never be a problem.
Rating: 
Summary: Worthy effort but not the last word. Leaves much out.
Review: Although I still enjoyed this presentation, I must confess I was somewhat disappointed in it too. Some monarchs are overdone by Mr. Schama while others, such as Richard the Lionhearted, are merely glanced over and brushed aside. Some aren't even mentioned at all such as Richard III or the current House of Windsor and its members, both past and present. Mr. Shama presents the history with an aire of objectivity and the conviction that his presentation is the last word, in fact the only word, that describes the History of Britain when in fact it is merely his own subjective interpretation. No other scholars or historians are quoted or interviewed by Mr. Schama. I guess who needs them when you already have the greatest expert doing the narration.
Rating: 
Summary: Superficial.
Review: It is not about Britain but about Simon Schama [however the last hour of Volume 5 is interesting]. If you still have some doubts: just compare this documentary with Mark Twain by Ken Burns or Thomas Jefferson also by Ken Burns, and judge by yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent and entertaining history
Review: This may be the most interesting history series I've ever seen. As a whole, I was more captivated by the earlier history than the more recent. But the entire set inspired me to bring out my maps and read more about English History (albeit in Historical Fiction - I would recommend Sarum by Edward Rutherford, The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett and The Physician by Noah Gordon). As an American, I didn't study a lot of this history in school growing up, so for me it was fresh and entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Not quite what I hoped
Review: After reading other reviews of the series with eager anticipation, actually viewing A History of Britain was disappointing. Simon Schama is obviously knowledgeable and put a lot of work into this presentation; I did gain value from watching it. However, I found the tone of the presentation salacious (akin to British gossip rags), tedious at points, unecessarily gory (do we really need to know that a nefarious nobleman reportedly died from a hot poker up his bum?), a bit choppy in the editing and somewhat hard to follow chronologically. More frequent use of maps would have been helpful for those who live outside England and are thus not familiar with British geography. The best produced and most coherent part was the segment on Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitane. This production stirred me emotionally more than I expected, and not necessarily in a good way.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating
Review: This set of documentaries is superbly entertaining and informing. Mr Schama is the higher authority on British history and his dry wit makes it even more splendid WHAT I DON'T LIKE:
Why do we have to have that dramatic music and the slow-motion falcons, peacocks etc? All that spoon-fed symbolism. I think that re-enactments are unecessary too. Plus they add so much to the budget. I get all excited when I find out new documentaries are coming on the HISTORY channel only to have them all tricked up with blood running down the screen or some fire super-imposed over Hitler's face. That's the chasm between most documenatries you see on The History channel as opposed to PBS. I think every documentary film-maker could take a tip from KEN BURNS and let the events, paintings, photographs, period music, and interviews speak for themselves. Of course, having said that, I highly recommend this DVD set. SEE IT!
Rating:
Summary: Schama, A True Historian.
Review: Thank you Simon Schama and everyone else involved in making these documentaries and releasing them on DVD. Five discs dealing with the history of Great Britain from 3100 BC to the 20th century. You get to find the true story behind the man Mel Gibson played in Braveheart. You get to know all about all the major kings and queens that shaped the UK. You get to know all about the invasions by the Roman Empire and the Vikings and what impact that had on the Britons. Winston Churchill, Oliver Cromwell and George Orwell are here. There's a documentary on the effect the Plague (Started in 1348) had on England. This is an awesome boxset and well worth the price thanks to Simon and company. I could not have asked for any better, But I wish Simon would do a three or four hour documentary that went into the details of the Falklands war. It would be cool if he did the same for the British side of the story of WWII and WWI. Anyways he did a superb job on this, I am just most fascinated with the conflicts of the 20th century. I don't like movies based on conflicts that happened so long ago but documentaries is a different story. Simon makes it so interesting. Thank you Simon for all your hard work in getting this job done. I really appreciate it. Cheers.
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