The British [DVD]

What a series!Given it's only 7 episodes and has over 2000 years of history to cram it, it does, as might be expected, fly through certain aspects. However, despite being a whistle-stop tour, it is filled with fun titbits of information to inspire and incite curiosity to delve further into the canon of British history.I would love to see this series continue to make additional box sets for other countries around the world as I can't think of a better way to gain an introduction to the history of a country. I do agree with some of the other reviews in that there are naturally a great deal of things swept through in a very short space of time, but I only assumed it to be an introduction rather than a comprehensive overview. However, for my Japanese wife that knows very little about British history, this has really been a great series to learn about a lot (albeit in relatively light detail) in a very short space in time. Overall a very good synopsis of our history.Could not recommend this enough!

Interesting and informative.

Very good series spanning 2000 years of life in Britain, has a very good timeline for discussing what happened when and also highlights some of the best inventions and people to come out of Britain as well as a lot of information of how Britain itself was formed from external input. A very good series, sums up the history quite well, good acting, good narrator, overall I would say very good only the price is a little high. I still give it a buy though!Thank you!

Brilliant series and perfect DVD. Love it - now my mum wants a copy! Have to re order. It tells the story of us in a variety of mediums - the CGI not over the top, the live action appropriate and the interspersed comments from experts and well know British people very fitting. It's really is a great watch.

Watched this on tv and thought it was amazing so I bought it for my dad for Christmas. It was factual and gave to you a good insight into not just how England developed as a nation through not just war but also religion and invention. What's better is that 2000 years of history was explained and digitally remastered in just ten episodes.

I am very pleased with my purchase of "The British." I was delighted at the low cost of shipping from the UK, and my package arrived in a very timely manner. My overall experience with this product and distributor has been very positive and would not hesitate to purchase additional items in the future.

I bought this for a friends son who now lives in America. He is a Professor in political science and loves the history of Britain.

I found this video, The British: 2000 Years in the Making, to be most disappointing. Starting with the RomanInvasion, we see reenactments of Romans fighting with and slaughtering Celtic tribesfolk at alarming rates,but not even an inkling to explain how the Celts came to be in these islands in the first place. We are simplyshown with no explanation at all, that the Romans came, found the Britons to be barbaric and slaughteredenough of them until the rest were subdued into acceptance of Roman rule. A short section on Romano-Britaingives way to St. Patrick, but no mention of the Venerable Bede at all, one of our earliest historians.The Anglo-Saxons who had ruled for hundreds of years were also given short shrift until we arrive at the NormanConquest, serfdom and the Domesday book.The Peasants Revolt, the Plague and death of about half the population was interesting but then we were rushedinto Henry VIII and the dissolution of the monasteries, and so it went on to empire building, war and more war untilwe finish with the Coronation of our current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.The whole video is padded out with vox pop snippets from actors, sports personalities and comedians voicing theiropinions rather than facts.I enjoyed the narration by Ioan Gruffydd, the odd comment by a few historians, but overall, this was a poor effort.Trying to create a history of The British in just over 300 minutes is best left to the experts.If you are looking to be entertained rather then informed, then this DVD could be for you, it is not something that wouldbe of much help those who are serious students of history.Released in 2012305 minutes approxWith English Subtitles.