Whitmore
08-07-2008, 05:28 AM
So I'm a bit late to the party, but I just sat through the entire series A History of Britain, borrowed from my local library. Regardless of my opinion of the series, the major impression this Yank got is that Britain has vastly more history and experience than we do here in the New World. It was a humbling experience, to be sure.
Narrator Simon Schama kept his own manner of continuity, but I always felt emotionally wrung-out after each viewing of the 15 episodes. So often it seemed his main objective was to disabuse us of any sense of romanticism we might have had about past Britain.
Even if modern historian Schama wanted to dictate how our affinities for Britain should tamed and leashed, the soundtrack constantly threw these efforts into chaos. John Harle's music, an eclectic mix of old and new, undermined to the point of making me think Schama secretly didn't want us to see things ever so harshly. I immediately got the soundtrack and it was love at first hearing. As someone said, Harle's version of "The Three Ravens" is worth the CD. If I was forced to offer just one song to attention-deficit aliens who only understood music, I'd give them Harle's "The Three Ravens" as the summation of Britain.
Narrator Simon Schama kept his own manner of continuity, but I always felt emotionally wrung-out after each viewing of the 15 episodes. So often it seemed his main objective was to disabuse us of any sense of romanticism we might have had about past Britain.
Even if modern historian Schama wanted to dictate how our affinities for Britain should tamed and leashed, the soundtrack constantly threw these efforts into chaos. John Harle's music, an eclectic mix of old and new, undermined to the point of making me think Schama secretly didn't want us to see things ever so harshly. I immediately got the soundtrack and it was love at first hearing. As someone said, Harle's version of "The Three Ravens" is worth the CD. If I was forced to offer just one song to attention-deficit aliens who only understood music, I'd give them Harle's "The Three Ravens" as the summation of Britain.