Customer Reviews
A future school textbook - and useful now. - By: A. I. McCulloch, 29 Aug 2008 
This book was updated for its paperback release & having read it carefully I suspect that many of the errors referred to by other reviewers were removed at that point. Having lived out of Britain for a sizeable chunk of my adult life, I found that I had much to learn from the pages - several large gapsin my knowledge were filled in.
I found it difficult to detect any signs of bias, & Andrew Marr's easy writing style made it a pleasure to read. This is almost as far removed from the dry history textbook that I wrestled with as a young student as it is possible to be. For anyone wanting a crash course on British modern history, this could not be bettered. Well researched & referenced, this deserves to become a standard.
I learnt all I should have at school - By: Peter Eustance, 26 Aug 2008 
If I hadn't been taught some trendy (in the 1970's) History O Level course I may have learned some modern history & have subsequently been on catch up since!
This is the most readable book I have read covering the post war period & having seen the TV programme the writers voice is audible. It's a must read for a holiday (preferably with understanding people who don't want to talk very much as being interrupted reading won't go down too well)
A Superficial History of Modern Britain. - By: P. W. Charnley, 12 Aug 2008 
Andrew Marr's book is, if not a totally one-way glass facade, then certainly a pretty smeared window upon society that is clearly influenced by the naive, PC stupidity of those many refer to as the 'chattering classes'. Shallow & childlike. The professional intelligentsia, & their private armchair & public media imitators, will surely love it.
Excellent, compellint - By: VJC, 03 Aug 2008 Andrew Marr's 'History of Modern Britain' is a real tour de force - readable, entertaining & informative. The scholarship is obvious, but never detracts from the narrative. Marr covers all aspects of British history - economic, foreign relations, social - but always makes you feel you're following the narrative thread from 'then' to 'now': where we are now 'belongs'. Yet he also lets you think about how differently things might have turned out if some other set of circumstances had prevailed.
Excellent book, 'marred' (forgive the pun) only by sloppy editing, with frequent spelling mistakes & incorrect commas.
Pacy and very, very readable - By: chris widgery, 28 Jul 2008 This book's great advantage is that Marr was trained a journalist, not a historian. So his pace is rapid, his prose snappy & it doesn't get boring. Evenin the boring bits.
This does focus a lot on the politics, but, unlike some other reviewers, I rather liked the divergences into fashion or food or theatre. I find that always brings history to life rather more than politiciansin suits talking about things.
There are mistakesin the book that I spotted, which suggests there are likely to be rather more that I didn't. Sloppy, but not terminal. And let that not spoil too much what is an excellent run through the history of the last sixty years. If you are looking for an entertaining, single volume history that is readable throughout, this is the one.
