The Making of Modern Britain (Audible Audio Edition) Andrew Marr David Timson Macmillan Digital Audio Books
Download As PDF : The Making of Modern Britain (Audible Audio Edition) Andrew Marr David Timson Macmillan Digital Audio Books
In The Making of Modern Britain, Andrew Marr paints a fascinating portrait of life in Britain during the first half of the 20th century as the country recovered from the grand wreckage of the British Empire.
Between the death of Queen Victoria and the end of the Second World War, the nation was shaken by war and peace. The two wars were the worst we had ever known and the episodes of peace among the most turbulent and surprising. As the political forum moved from Edwardian smoking rooms to an increasingly democratic Westminster, the people of Britain experimented with extreme ideas as they struggled to answer the question 'how should we live?' Socialism? Fascism? Feminism?
Meanwhile, fads such as eugenics, vegetarianism and nudism were gripping the nation, and the popularity of the music hall soared. It was also a time that witnessed the birth of the media as we know it today and the beginnings of the welfare state.
Beyond trenches, flappers and Spitfires, this is a story of strange cults and economic madness, of revolutionaries and heroic inventors, sexual experiments and raucous stage heroines. From organic food to drugs, nightclubs and celebrities to package holidays, crooked bankers to sleazy politicians, the echoes of today's Britain ring from almost every chapter.
The Making of Modern Britain (Audible Audio Edition) Andrew Marr David Timson Macmillan Digital Audio Books
Andrew Marr is a Cambridge graduate who has produced several historical documentaries for the BBC. This book is an accompanying volume to his series on modern English history. The book,however, stands alone as a fine piece of scholarship told in an understandable way. The 451 page book travels from the end of the Victorian Age in 1901 to the end of World War II in 1945. This period was a time of great change as Britain moved from the world's largest colonial power to a modern democracy living in the shadow of the behemoth might of the burgeoning American empire.Marr has the knack of combining colorful anecdotes of the famous men and women who flourished in this era to a study of the movies, music halls, flight and transportation, politics and scandal. He covers everything under the Union Jack sun from organic foods, the rise of Mosley's Fascist party, the zaniness of Chaplin on film, the dotty Mitford girls to nightclubs, the birth of the BBC, popular music to the literary giants of the age. (Virginia Woolf; James Joyce: Ezra Pound; T.S. Eliot; the World War I poets such as Rupert Brooke and Siegfried Sassoon) to such British eccentrics as Ottoline Morrell. The Womens Suffragete movement led by the Pankhurst family is given good coverage. We also sit in at cabinet meetings looking over the shoulders of such figures as a gaggle of prime ministers: Winston Churchill the greatest Brit of all; Neville Chamberlain the failed appeaser of Munich infamy; Campbell-Bannermann; the stolid Stanley Baldwin and playboy Herbert Asquith who failed to lead the nation in World War I being replaced by David Lloyd-George the charismatic womanizing Welshman.
Marr does a good job in covering the horrors of both World War I and World War II in short but cogent chapters. Britain lost over 750,000 dead troops in the Great War and over 60,000 civilian deaths in World War II as well as many who died for King and Country. Marr describes the reigns of Edward VII; George V: Edward VIII (abdicated after wedding Mrs. Simpson and ruling only for ten months): George VI who was a good king during wartime hardships.
The book is written in a journalistic you are there style rich in quotable quotes. A sampling:
"As now, the middle classes looked to science to make life easier..."-p. 5
"One hint of greatness is when a person attracts phrase-makers."-p. 26
On World War I: "This was the first war to touch almost everyone in Britain since the brutal civil wars of the seventeenth century. It had vastly more impact on the homes of the British than the wars against Napoleon or the imperial wars."-p. 121
"Churchill...was always physically brave."-p. 168
"These were the years when,despite every temptation, we kept our balance."-p. 205
"Britain in 1920 was closer to being a democracy than ever before..."-p. 224
"As chancellor, Churchill immediately had to confront the ugly truths about British power which were still hiden under the imperial gloss."-p. 237
On the growth of the paperback book industry: "There were many revolutionary things about Penguins:they were cheap, well printed and little larger than a cigarette packet."-p. 278
"Yet when it came to Germany,Churchill was early and Churchill was right and Churchill was utterly dogged."p. 328
"Modern Britain is our share of the reward."p.429
Marr's book is well illustrated and a useful biblography and footnotes adds to the reading pleasure of the reader. A good and vaulable addition to the British history bookshelf! Rule Britannia!
Product details
|
Tags : Amazon.com: The Making of Modern Britain (Audible Audio Edition): Andrew Marr, David Timson, Macmillan Digital Audio: Books, ,Andrew Marr, David Timson, Macmillan Digital Audio,The Making of Modern Britain,Macmillan Digital Audio,B01M1YQSYI
People also read other books :
- Corpus Vile Death on Broadstreet edition by Jim Beard Mystery Thriller Suspense eBooks
- Circe Recruits 20 Gideon A Multiple Partner Shifter Book edition by Marie Harte Literature Fiction eBooks
- Will Do Magic for Small Change edition by Andrea Hairston Literature Fiction eBooks
- Alchemy of Attraction edition by Douglas Morgan Anthony Halderman Literature Fiction eBooks
- Ulysses By James Joyce Illustrated Original Unabridged Free Audiobook Inside edition by James Joyce Victor Literature Fiction eBooks
The Making of Modern Britain (Audible Audio Edition) Andrew Marr David Timson Macmillan Digital Audio Books Reviews
If you want to have some basic understanding of how modern Britain came to be, then this book is fabulous. It is detailed with anecdotes, yet manages to also give the reader a broad understanding of trends and ideas of the early twentieth century. This book is both interesting and enlightening. Well worth purchasing a copy for your home library.
I have long considered Peter Clarke's "Hope and Glory" to be the best single-volume history of Britain. Having recently finished Andrew Marr's work, however, I am ready to move "The Making of Modern Britain" above it on my list. Marr has a fluid writing style that moves a reader from large events (the Suez crisis) to seemingly small ones (the Scottish Nationalist Party's wins in local elections during the 1980s). He also has the ability to give each of his characters enough life and personality to make them central to the story of the country. I learned much here that I didn't know despite having read Clarke's book and others. This isn't to be missed by those studying British history or those just interested casually.
I want to add my praise to the earlier reviews which capture very nicely the absolute joy with which I read this book. I picked up a copy during a trip to England – they sell it (at a discount!) at some of the National Trust property gift shops.
The book is a paradox – on the one hand, you can hardly put it down because of the marvelous prose and the beautifully told history within; on the other hand, the book’s four parts each consists of numerous small subsections of a few pages each devoted to a particular part of the story. This makes it easy to follow without losing track of the story – much of which will be only vaguely familiar to the average American reader.
In the same vein, there are numerous references to artists, writers, politicians, etc. with whom the average American reader will not be familiar. Fear not – the author sweeps you along with him and you will journey through Britain’s early 20th century history with confidence and understanding. You’ll have insights into unexpected pieces of British history but just when you start to feel that you are traveling in a strange land, in steps Lloyd George, or Churchill, or George VI to re-orient you. (For myself, I prepared an index card listing the party, PM, and dates of each of the governments of the UK from 1868 to 1963, which was a useful reference every time I needed to know when the second Asquith or third Baldwin government was in power.)
Who would have believed that a television journalist could have done this?
I can’t recommend this book highly enough for anyone interested in recent British history. I can hardly wait to read Mr. Marr’s History of the World.
prsent for friends
This is an excellent history book - written for the non academic (yay!) - I enjoyed it entirely.
It came in perfect condition.
Andrew Marr is a Cambridge graduate who has produced several historical documentaries for the BBC. This book is an accompanying volume to his series on modern English history. The book,however, stands alone as a fine piece of scholarship told in an understandable way. The 451 page book travels from the end of the Victorian Age in 1901 to the end of World War II in 1945. This period was a time of great change as Britain moved from the world's largest colonial power to a modern democracy living in the shadow of the behemoth might of the burgeoning American empire.
Marr has the knack of combining colorful anecdotes of the famous men and women who flourished in this era to a study of the movies, music halls, flight and transportation, politics and scandal. He covers everything under the Union Jack sun from organic foods, the rise of Mosley's Fascist party, the zaniness of Chaplin on film, the dotty Mitford girls to nightclubs, the birth of the BBC, popular music to the literary giants of the age. (Virginia Woolf; James Joyce Ezra Pound; T.S. Eliot; the World War I poets such as Rupert Brooke and Siegfried Sassoon) to such British eccentrics as Ottoline Morrell. The Womens Suffragete movement led by the Pankhurst family is given good coverage. We also sit in at cabinet meetings looking over the shoulders of such figures as a gaggle of prime ministers Winston Churchill the greatest Brit of all; Neville Chamberlain the failed appeaser of Munich infamy; Campbell-Bannermann; the stolid Stanley Baldwin and playboy Herbert Asquith who failed to lead the nation in World War I being replaced by David Lloyd-George the charismatic womanizing Welshman.
Marr does a good job in covering the horrors of both World War I and World War II in short but cogent chapters. Britain lost over 750,000 dead troops in the Great War and over 60,000 civilian deaths in World War II as well as many who died for King and Country. Marr describes the reigns of Edward VII; George V Edward VIII (abdicated after wedding Mrs. Simpson and ruling only for ten months) George VI who was a good king during wartime hardships.
The book is written in a journalistic you are there style rich in quotable quotes. A sampling
"As now, the middle classes looked to science to make life easier..."-p. 5
"One hint of greatness is when a person attracts phrase-makers."-p. 26
On World War I "This was the first war to touch almost everyone in Britain since the brutal civil wars of the seventeenth century. It had vastly more impact on the homes of the British than the wars against Napoleon or the imperial wars."-p. 121
"Churchill...was always physically brave."-p. 168
"These were the years when,despite every temptation, we kept our balance."-p. 205
"Britain in 1920 was closer to being a democracy than ever before..."-p. 224
"As chancellor, Churchill immediately had to confront the ugly truths about British power which were still hiden under the imperial gloss."-p. 237
On the growth of the paperback book industry "There were many revolutionary things about Penguinsthey were cheap, well printed and little larger than a cigarette packet."-p. 278
"Yet when it came to Germany,Churchill was early and Churchill was right and Churchill was utterly dogged."p. 328
"Modern Britain is our share of the reward."p.429
Marr's book is well illustrated and a useful biblography and footnotes adds to the reading pleasure of the reader. A good and vaulable addition to the British history bookshelf! Rule Britannia!
0 Response to "[DUQ]∎ Read Gratis The Making of Modern Britain (Audible Audio Edition) Andrew Marr David Timson Macmillan Digital Audio Books"
Post a Comment