ABSTRACT
Students seeking an overview of British history are well served by Norman Davies and Simon Schama with The Isles: A History (1999, OUP) and A History of Britain (2000, Hyperion) respectively. The former has also produced a fascinating if individualistic Europe: A History (1996, OUP), which is highly recommended. Books on specific periods and individuals are available in abundance, but of very variable quality. I confine myself here to those I have found particularly valuable, a choice which, being a personal one, is bound to be idiosyncratic. For the pre-Conquest era, the best single book is perhaps PH Sawyer, From Roman Britain to Norman England (2nd edn, 1998, Routledge). Those interested in art and literature as well as ‘straight’ history will find much to enjoy in P Hunter Blair, The World of Bede (2nd edn, 1990, CUP), and readers interested in continental Europe and the Near East will appreciate Peter Brown’s The World of Late Antiquity: From Marcus Aurelius to Muhammed (1971, Thames & Hudson). Frank Barlow’s The Feudal Kingdom of England 1042-1216 (5th edn, 1999, Longman) is excellent on the Norman Conquest and the 150 years after.
