A History of Britain, Vol 1: At the Edge of the World? 3000BC-AD1603

Part-archaeology, part-social history, this book accompanies a 16-part television series, co-produced by the BBC and the History Channel. Writing in an engaging, accessible style and dotted with interesting illustrations, both of which more than balance the sheer bulk of the book, Schama approaches a broad sweep of Britain's history from 3,500BC to the modern post-imperial state. He has set out to show that, as much as Britain has changed over the last 5,500 years, much has remained the same.