<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Much better than other secondary sources out there!
Review: I am a student at the University that Prof. Arnstein, the co-author of this book and the author of the next book, teaches at. I used both this and it's follow up, "Britain: Yesterday and Today," for classes here at the university as well as my own knowledge and background reasearch. The book is well written with an excellent comedic edge that captivates even the most light-hearted historical reader. While it covers a long period of history is a relativly short number of pages, it does it well. I would suggest this to any one looking for a little knowledge of the time period without having to get a Ph.D. in history to do so! One nice feature of the book is that it features full color photos which many other books lack. I've used many text books here at the University for English history and I keep comming back to this one anytime I need to check a fact or brush up on an event.
Rating:
Summary: Much better than other secondary sources out there!
Review: I am a student at the University that Prof. Arnstein, the co-author of this book and the author of the next book, teaches at. I used both this and it's follow up, "Britain: Yesterday and Today," for classes here at the university as well as my own knowledge and background reasearch. The book is well written with an excellent comedic edge that captivates even the most light-hearted historical reader. While it covers a long period of history is a relativly short number of pages, it does it well. I would suggest this to any one looking for a little knowledge of the time period without having to get a Ph.D. in history to do so! One nice feature of the book is that it features full color photos which many other books lack. I've used many text books here at the University for English history and I keep comming back to this one anytime I need to check a fact or brush up on an event.
Rating: 
Summary: Get the original version by Willcox only
Review: This is an updated, expanded version of the classic political history originally authored solely by William Willcox. Though more comprehensive and improved, the original stands better as a concise, well-written account of the period. Numerous language changes, presumably to make the book more appealing to college-age textbook readers abound. For example: "Thus Frederick was saved from the ring of his enemies and saw the chance to triumph over Austria, while Spain and France were surfeited with defeats." is changed in the updated version to the ungainly: "Thus in Europe Frederick was saved from the ring of his enemies and won a change to triumph over Austria, while overseas the Bourbon powers suffered one defeat after another." Get the original and save yourself 100 or so pages, unless you have to read it for college, in which case you'll need the one authored by both Willcox and Arnstein.
<< 1 >>
| 
